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LUTIIKK W. HOPKINS. 

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FROM BULL RUN 
TO APPOMATTOX 



A BOY'S VIEW 



BY 

L. W. HOPKINS 

OF GENL. J. E. B. STUART'S CAVALRY 
6th Virginia Regiment, C. S. A. 



PRESS OF 

Fleet- McGiNLEY Co. 

BALTIMORE 






LiGR&RYof CUNGFiESS 
Two copies Received 

NOV 16 1908 

CLASS a. '"^ii- '*^"'' 



Copyright. 1908 

By L. W. HOPKINS 

Baltimore 






PREFACE 

"Life is the mirror of the king and slave, 

'Tis just what you are and do. 
Then give to the world the best you have, 

And the best will come back to you." 

I never thought that I should be guilty of writing a book. I 
did not, however, do this with malice aforethought. My son is 
responsible for whatever sin I may have committed in presenting this 
to the public. He and I have been good friends ever since we 
became acquainted, and he has always insisted upon my telling him 
all that I know. When he was about three years old he discovered 
that I had been a soldier in Lee's army from 1861 to 1865, and, 
although he is of Quaker descent and a loyal member of the Society 
of Friends, and I am half Quaker, yet he loved war stories and I 
loved to tell them. This accounts for the production of the book. 
After I had told him these stories over and over, again and again, 
when he was grown he insisted upon my starting at the beginning 
and giving him the whole of my experience in the Confederate army. 
Then he wanted it published. I yielded to his request, and here is 
the book. This is not, however, an exact copy of the typewritten 
manuscript which he has. The original manuscript is more personal. 
I thought the change would make it more acceptable to the general 
reader. 

We all believe in peace ; universal peace, but when war does come, 
and such a costly war as the one from which this story is taken, we 



4 PREFACE 

ought to get all the good out of it we can. The long marches along 
dusty roads, under hot suns, the long marches through sleet and 
snows, the long dreary nights without shelter, the march of the 
picket to and fro on his beat, the constant drilling and training, the 
struggle on the battlefields, all these are part of the material that the 
world has always used in constructing a nation. While there are 
some things about war that we should forget, there are many things 
that ought never to be forgotten, but should be handed down from 
sire to son all through the ages that are to come. 

Historians have told us much about our Civil War, but they have 
left out the part that appeals most to the boy, and it is this part that 
I have tried to bring before the public. Men may read the book if 
they will, but it is written more particularly for the youth. The boy 
of today and the boy that is yet to be ought to know of the bloody 
sweat through which this nation passed in reaching its present 
position among the great nations of the earth, and the part the boy 
played in it. It is said that one boy is a boy; two boys a half boy 
and three boys no boy at all. That may be true of the boy running 
loose, unbridled like a colt, but gather up these boys and train them, 
harness and hitch them and they will move the world or break 
a trace. It is the boy who decides the fate of nations. I don't know 
the average age of our soldiers in times of peace, but when wars come 
and there is a call for soldiers, it is mainly the boy in his teens who 
responds ; yet, strange to say, the historian has never thought it worth 
while to put much emphasis upon what the boy does in the upbuilding 
of a nation. 

Another thing that has been neglected by the historian is the brave 
and noble part the horse took in our war. The grays, the bays, the 



PREFACE 5 

sorrels, the roans, the chestnuts, have not been forgotten in this 
story. Indeed, as I have already said, I have tried to bring to light 
that part of the story of our Civil War that has not been told. 

Now, young men and boys, girls too, old men, if there are any, 
read this book, all of you, regardless of geographical lines, for I 
have tried to be fair to those who wore the blue. As the years go 
by, I have learned to respect and love those who fought for the 
Union. I visited Boston and its environments two summers ago for 
the first time. During the visit, I never met a person whom I had ever 
seen before, yet all the time that I was away I felt at home. I said 
to myself, are these the people we of the South used to hate? Are 
these the people that we once mobbed as they marched through our 
streets? Yes, they are the same people or their descendants, but 
then we did not know them and they did not know us. I came back 
feeling proud of my country, and I only wish I could give here a 
detailed account of that visit. If, early in the spring of 1861, the 
North and South had swapped visits, each party would have gone 
home singing, "there ain't goin' to be no war," but we had a war; 
a great war, a costly war; let us forget what ought to be forgotten 
and remember what ought to be remembered. I want to pay this 
tribute to the Northern soldiers. I have discovered this : When two 
armies of equal numbers met face to face in the open, it was nearly 
always a toss up as to who would win. Numbers don't always count 
in battle. General Hooker, with his army of 130,000, retreating before 
Lee's 60,000, doesn't mean that one rebel could whip two yankees. 
It only meant that "Fighting Joe" had more than he could manage. 
His numbers were an encumbrance. There were other differences 
which, for the sake of brevity, I will not mention, but will add this 



6 PREFACE 

one word : One bluecoat was all I cared to face, and I believe every 
other Johnny Reb will say the same. 

May we never have another war, but boys, remember this : "Peace 
hath her victories, no less renowned than war," and the boy that 
wishes to count in this world must train. But there are other train- 
ing schools quite as helpful as the camp and the battlefield. 

L. W. HOPKINS. 
Baltimore, November, 1908. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. 

From Harper's Ferry to Bull Run. 

Loudoun County on the Potomac— John Brown's Raid— War Talk Among 
the Schoolboys— The Slave and His Master— Election of Lincoln— Seces- 
sion— Schoolboys Preparing for the Coming Conflict— Firing on Fort Sum- 
ter—Union Army Crossing the Potomac. 

CHAPTER n. 

From Bull Run to Seven Pines. 

Confederates Concentrating at Manassas— First Battle— The Wounded 
Horse— Rout of tne Union Army— The Losses. 

CHAPTER HI. 

From Bull Run to Seven Pines. (Continued.) 

Long Rest— Each Side Recruiting Their Armies— McClellan in Command— 
His March on Richmond by the Way of the James River— Jacicson's 
Brilliant Valley Campaign— The Battles Around Richmond— Seven Pines— 
Mechanicsville— Beaver Dam— Gaines' Mill— Fair Oal?s— The Wounding of 
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston— McCIellan's Defeat— The Spoils of the Battle. 

CHAPTER IV. 

From Seven Pines to Antietam. 

The Battle of Cedar Run— Jackson's Flank Movement— McClellan Moves 
His Army Back to Washington— Second Battle of Manassas— The Defeat 
of Pope— His Retreat to the Defenses of Washington— The Captured 
Stores and Losses on Both Sides— Lee Crosses the Potomac Into Mary- 
land—The Stragglers of Lee's Army— A Dinner Party— The Capture of 
Harper's Ferry— Battle of Antietam— Result of the Battle— Lee Recrosses 
the Potomac— Lee in a Trap. 

CHAPTER V. 

From Antietam to Chancellorsville. 

McClellan Relieved of His Command— Burnside Commands the Union Army— 
The Two Armies at Fredericksburg— The Blue Ridge Mountain— The 
Author a Prisoner— Battle of Fredericksburg— Burnside's Defeat— Losses 
on Both Sides— The Armies in Winter Quarters— How They Spent the 
Winter— Company Q's Escapade— Raid Into West Virginia— Burnside 
Relieved— Hooker In Command— Hooker Crossing the Rappahannock- 
Jackson's Successful Flank Movement— His Mortal Wound— Hooker's 
Defeat— He Recrosses the River— Losses on Both Sides— Stonewall Jack- 
son's Death— The South in Tears— Ode to Stonewall Jackson by a Union 
Officer. 

CHAPTER VI. 

From Chancellorsville to Gettysburg. 
Ninth of June at Brandy Station— Lee's Army En Route for Gettysburg- 
See Map— Stuart's March Around the Union Army— Lee Crosses the 
Potomac— The Union Army in a Parallel Line With Lee's— Crosses the 



8 CONTENTS 

Potomac Below Harper's Ferry— Hooker Relieved— Meade in Command of 
the Union Arm}— The Battle of Gettysburg— Lee's First Defeat— His 
Retreat— The Midnight's Thunder Storm— His Five Days' Rest on the 
North Bank of the Potomac— He Recrosses the River, 

CHAPTER VII. 

From Gettysburg to the Wilderness. 

Both Armies Marching Back to the Rappahannock— Short Rest— Meade's 
Advance — Lee Retires to the Rapidan— Meade's Withdrawal From Lee's 
Front— Lee's Advance— Fighting Around Brandy Station— The Battle at 
Bristoe Station— The Union Army Retires Towards Washington— Lee 
Discontinues the Pursuit and Returns to the Rapidan River— In Winter 
Quarters— How the Winter Was Spent— Many of Lee's Soldiers Are Per- 
mitted to Return to Their Homes Under Care of Their Commanding 
Officers for a Vacation— Mosby Appears Upon the Scene. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

From the Wilderness to James River. 

Grant in Command of the Union Army— Preparation for the Coming 
Struggle— Battle of The Wilderness— Strength of the Armies— Losses- 
Wounding of General Longstreet— Battle at Spotsylvania Court House— 
The Awful Slaughter— Sheridan's Raid on Richmond- Stuart's Cavalry in 
Pursuit— General Stuart's Death— Yellow Tavern— The Author Again a 
Prisoner. 

CHAPTER IX. 

From the James River to Petersburg. 

Battle of Cold Harbor— Grant Again Repulsed— Death of Flournoy— Grant 
Crossing the James— Prison Life at Point Lookout— Parole of the Sick 
From the Hospitals— The Dreary Winter— Its Bright Side— How the 
Soldiers and the Citizens Spent It— Mosby's Men— The Long Siege- 
Battle of the Crater. 

CHAPTER X. 

From Petersburg to Appomattox. 

Evacuation of Richmond— Retreat of Lee's Army Towards Appomattox- 
Lee's Surrender— After the Surrender— Some War Stories— The Faithful 
Slave. 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Horses of Lee's Army. 

Their Number— Losses— Rover's Tricks— A Mighty Jaw— Her Capture- 
Horses in Battle — Friendship Between Horse and Rider- Wagon Horses- 
Artillery Horses— Cavalry Horses— Men Sleep on Their Horses— Horses for 
Breastwork— Seventy-five Thousand Black Beauties— Monument for Lee's 
Horses— A Pathetic Poem. 




GEN. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON, 
Who preceded Gen. Robert E. Lee in command of the Army of Northern 

Virginia. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Luther W. Hopkins, Frontispiece^ 

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, • • 8 y 

Jefferson C. Davis^ ^^ -^^ 

Gen. Thomas Jonathan Jackson (called "Stonewall Jackson"), . . 32 ^' 

Robert Howard Hopkins, 48 -^ 

The Last Meeting of Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville, . . 80 '' 

Gen. Robert E. Lee, 112 - 

Mrs. R. E. Lee, 128 - 

Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, I44 ^ 

A Battle-Scarred Confederate Banner, 161 ^ 

Gen. a. p. Hill, 176 -^ 

One of Stonewall Jackson's Mileposts, 192 

Bishop Alpheus W. Wilson, 208 y 



From Bull Run to Appomattox 

A BOY'S VIEW 
Chapter I. 

From Harper s Ferry to Bull Run. 

"O war, thou hast thy fierce delight, 
Thy gleams of joy intensely bright; 
Such gleams as from thy polished shield 
Fly dazzling o'er the battle-field." 

Is there a boy in all this wide land, North or 
South, who would not like to hear what a boy has to 
say of his experience as a private soldier in the Con- 
federate Army from 1861 to 1865, serving for the 
most part in Stuart's Cavalry of Lee's army? Men 
have told their story, and graphically told it from 
a man's standpoint. But who has spoken for the 
boy? Who has told of the part the boy played in 
that great drama that was on the stage for four 
years without intermission? That bloody drama 
in which there were 3,000,000 players — a play that 
cost the country eight billions in money and half 
a million human lives? 



12 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

I do not know how it was in the Northern armies 



but the bulk of Lee's soldiers in the ranks were boys 
in their teens. It was these boys who made Thomas 
Jonathan Jackson, ''Stonewall Jackson;" who put 
Robert E. Lee's name in the hall of fame and who 
lifted J. E. B. Stuart up to the rank of lieutenant- 
general of cavalry. One of these boys has written 
the story as he remembers it in plain, simple lan- 
guage ; not a history, but simply an account of what 
he saw and did while this eventful history was be- 
ing made. If his experience is different from 
others, or does not accord in all respects with what 
the historian has written, it is because we do not all 
see alike. The writer has not consulted the his- 
tories for material for this story; he did not have to 
do this. If all the boys who served in the Confed- 
erate Army were to write their experience, they 
would all be different, yet all approximately cor- 
rect, and perhaps, taken together, would be the 
most perfect history that could be written of the 
Confederate side of the Civil War. 

In the early spring of 1861 I was seventeen years 
old and going to school about half a mile from my 
home in Loudoun county, Virginia. Twelve miles 
distant was Harper's Ferry, where four years pre- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 3 

vious John Brown had made an attempt to raise an 
insurrection among the slaves in that district. He 
seized the United States arsenal, located there, for 
the purpose of arming the negroes, who were ex- 
pected to flock to his standard and have their free- 
dom declared. The negroes did not respond; John 
Brown and a few of his followers were captured 
and hanged. This atrocious act of Brown and his 
abettors kindled a flame in the hearts of the South- 
ern people ,that led to the Civil War. But none 
felt it so keenly as did the Virginians, because it 
was their sacred soil that had been traduced. 
Three years previous to this, when I was ten years 
of age, I remember to have heard a political dis- 
cussion among a body of men, and the following 
words have lingered in my memory ever since, and 
they are all that I can recall of their talk: ^'If 
there is a war between the North and South, Vir- 
ginia will be the battlefield." I thought it would 
be grand, and waited anxiously for the fulfillment 
of this prophecy. Then when John Brown swooped 
down on Harper's Ferry with his cohorts, it looked 
as if the day had really come and that the predic- 
tion was about to be fulfilled. From that time war 
talk was general, especially among the small boys. 



14 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

But the intense excitement caused by the Brown 
episode gradually abated. It broke out afresh, 
however, when later it was announced that Abra- 
ham Lincoln was elected President of the United 
States. It seemed to be the concensus of opinion 
that the result would be war, and that Virginia in 
truth would be the battleground, and that the coun- 
ties along the Potomac would receive the first shock 
of battle. We boys of Loudoun county, right on 
the Potomac, felt that we were ^^t," and we had a 
kind of pity for those poor fellows a little farther 
back. We were in the front row, and when the cur- 
tain went up we could see and hear everything. 
There were about thirty boys attending our school 
between the ages of fifteen and twenty. They all 
entered the Confederate Army, but few survived 
the war. 

» 

Before going on with the story, perhaps I ought 
to explain why these boys were so eager for war, 
when they knew that the enemy would be their own 
countrymen. There was a peculiar relationship 
existing between the slave owner's family and the 
slaves that the North never did and never will un- 
derstand. On the part of the white children it was 
love, pure and simple, for the slave, while on the 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 5 

part of the adult it was more than friendship, and, 
I might add, the feeling was reciprocated by the 
slaves. The children addressed the adult blacks as 
Uncle and Aunt, and treated them with as much re- 
spect as they did their blood relatives. It was 
Uncle Reuben and Aunt Dinah. The adult white 
also addressed the older colored people in the same 
way. With but few exceptions, the two races lived 
together in perfect harmony. If a slave-owner 
was cruel to his slaves, it was because he was a cruel 
man, and all who came in contact with him, both 
man and beast, suffered at his hands. Even his 
children did not escape. These men are found 
everywhere. The old black mammy, with her head 
tied up in a white cloth, was loved, respected and 
honored by every inmate of the home, regardless 
of color. 

The following incident will be of interest : Hon. 
John Randolph Tucker, one of Virginia's most 
gifted and learned sons, who represented his State 
in the U. S. Senate, always celebrated his birthday. 
I remember to have attended one of these celebra- 
tions. It was shortly after the close of the war. 
Mr. Tucker was then between fifty-five and sixty 
years of age. He had grown children. Fun mak- 



1 6 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ing was one of his characteristics. On these annual 
occasions, it was his custom to dress himself in a 
long white gown and bring into the parlor his old 
black nurse, whom he called '^nammy." She sat in 
her rocking-chair with her head tied up in the con- 
ventional snow-white cloth. Mr. Tucker, dressed 
up as a child in his nightgown, would toddle 
in and climb up into her lap, and she would lull 
him to sleep with an old-time nursery song, no 
doubt one of her own compositions. This could 
not possibly have occurred had the skin of his nurse 
been white. 

When a daughter married and set up her own 
home, fortunate was she if she took with her the 
mammy. In many homes the slaves were present 
at family prayers. The kitchen and the cabin fur- 
nished the white children places of resort that were 
full of pleasure. 

This was the relation between white and colored 
as I remember it from a child in my part of Vir- 
ginia. And tonight, as I write these lines, while 
the clock tolls ofif the hour of eleven, I cannot keep 
out of my mind the words of that little poem by 
Elizabeth Akers: 

"Backward, turn backward, oh time in thy flight, 
And make me a child again, just for tonight." 




,-?sr 




JEFFERSON t. DAVIS, 

President of the Confederate States of America. Talien just before liis 

inauguration. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 7 

How anyone could have desired to break up this 
happy relationship was beyond the conception of 
the child, and more or less incomprehensible to the 
adult. 

Somewhere between childhood and youth we 
children all learned that there was a race of people 
up North called Abolitionists, who were so mean 
that they sent secret agents through the country to 
persuade the colored people to leave their homes 
and go North, where they could be free. That 
these agents were disguised as peddlers or other- 
wise, and that they visited the cabins of the slaves 
during the late hours of the night, and went so far 
as to urge them to rise up in a body and declare 
their freedom, and if necessary to murder those 
who held them as slaves. This delusion, if it were 
a delusion, might have been dispelled had not John 
Brown and his men appeared upon the scene to give 
an ocular demonstration of their real intent. The 
few men with him may have been the only follow- 
ing that he had, but the damage had been done. 
Virginia was fighting mad. What had been whis- 
pered about the abolitionists in secret was now pro- 
claimed from the housetops. John Brown was an 
abolitionist, and all abolitionists were John 



1 8 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Browns, so the youths at least reasoned. The 
words abolitionist and Yankee were for the most 
part synonymous terms; the former being hard to 
pronounce, the child usually employed the latter. 
Some of the 3^oung children did not know that a 
Yankee was a human being, as the following inci- 
dent will illustrate: 

When the first Federal soldiers entered the vil- 
lage of Middleburg, Loudoun county, Virginia, 
the cry went up and down the streets, "The Yankees 
have come!" The streets were soon deserted by 
every living thing except the dogs and the ubiqui- 
tous, irrepressible small boy, who was or pretended 
to be "skeered o' nothin'." This war was gotten up 
for his special benefit, and he was determined to 
see all that was to be seen, and was always to be 
found well up in front. The women and children 
within their homes crowded to the windows to see 
the cavalry as it marched by. A little three-year 
old nephew of mine, with the expression of alarm 
disappearing from his face, said: "Mamma, them 
ain't Yankees, them's soldiers." He expected to 
see some kind of hideous animal. 

This is the education the Virginia boys got, who 
afterward became Lee's soldiers. They were 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 19 

brought up in this school, and when they became 
soldiers, wearing the gray, they felt that they had 
something to fight for. They believed that they 
were real patriots, notwithstanding they were 
called rebels and traitors. 

This brings us to the beginning of the Civil War, 
or at least to the secession movement. Lincoln had 
not yet taken his seat as President, when several of 
the Southern States seceded and formed a Southern 
Confederacy, with Montgomery, Ala., as the capi- 
tal, and Jefiferson C. Davis as President. This was 
recognized by the United States Government as 
open rebellion, and as soon as Mr. Lincoln took the 
reins of government, he called for 75,000 troops to 
suppress the rebellion. 

Virginia must either furnish her quota of troops 
or withdraw from the Union. She promptly chose 
the latter, and shortly afterward became a part of 
the Southern Confederacy. As soon as the ordi- 
nance of secession had passed the Virginia Legisla- 
ture, there were a thousand Paul Reveres in the sad- 
dle, carrying the news to every point not reached by 
telegraph lines. The young men and boys did not 
wait for the call from the Governor. Military 
companies, infantry, cavalry and artillery sprang 



20 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

up everywhere. Anyone who chose and could get a 
sufficient following might raise a company. These 
companies were offered to the Governor and 
promptly accepted. The ordinance of secession 
was passed at night. The next morning Virginia 
troops w^ere on their way to seize Harper's Ferry. 
On the approach of these troops the small guard 
of United States soldiers stationed there set fire to 
the buildings and fled. The fire was extinguished 
by the citizens, I think, and much of the valuable 
machinery and military stores was saved. The ma- 
chinery was sent to Richmond, and the arms were 
used in equipping the soldiers. Harper's Ferry 
became one of the outposts of the Confederacy, and 
a place of rendezvous for the rapidly-growing Con- 
federate battalions. Thomas Jonathan Jackson, 
afterward known as Stonewall Jackson, was sent to 
Harper's Ferry to drill and organize the forces 
gathering there, into an army. He was later super- 
seded by Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, but Jackson re- 
mained as a subordinate commander. In the mean- 
time, the Confederate Government had demanded 
that Gen. Anderson evacuate Fort Sumter, at the 
entrance of Charleston harbor, and also had said, 
if not in words, in action, to the Government at 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 21 

Washington as it saw United States armies gather- 
ing near its northern frontier, So far shalt thou 
come, and no further. 

But to go back to the thirty boys. What were 
they doing all this time? Just prior to the date of 
Virginia's secession they were gathering in groups 
at noon and recess, on the way to and from school, 
and talking war. How big and important we 
seemed as we prospectively saw ourselves dressed 
as soldiers, armed and keeping step to the beat of 
the drum. There was but little studying, for our 
preceptor was not hard on us. He had once been 
a boy himself, and appreciating the conditions that 
surrounded us, he chiefly employed himself in 
keeping the school together until hostilities began, 
if it should really come to that. I don't know how 
long the school continued, but I do know that these 
particular boys were early on the drill ground, and 
were being trained into soldiers. It was difficult 
for the parents to keep the fourteen and fifteen-year- 
old boys at home or in school. I had a brother six- 
teen years old who was first of the family to en- 
list, and then all followed, one after another, until 
four of us were in the ranks. There were mature 
men and old men, men of heavy responsibilities, 



22 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

who saw farther into the future than the younger 
generation. These went about with bowed heads 
and talked seriously of what the future might bring. 
They wisely discussed constitutional law, State 
rights, what foreign nations would have to say 
^ about it, the nations that had to have our cotton. 
'^Cotton was king," they said, and the South owned 
the king, soul and body. Questions like these were 
discussed among the men, but like one of old, the 
boy cared for none of these things. In the language 
of a famous Union general, his place was to meet 
the enemy and defeat him. I remember about this 
time hearing this toast being offered to the South: 
''May her old men make her laws, her young 
men fight her battles, and her maidens spin her 
cotton." 

The boy well understood the part he was to play, 
and he was in his element, and as happy as a boy 
could be. I cannot remember just when the first 
call was made for troops by the Governor, but I do 
know, as I have already stated, that the boys heard 
the call from a higher source, and they were com- 
ing from mountain and plain, from hillside and 
valley, from the shop, and office and school. Well 
do I recall the joy that welled up in every boy's 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 23 

breast as one after another of the actors took their 
places on the stage. Again I find myself quoting 
Elizabeth Akers, this time substituting a word: 

"Backward, turn backward, oh time in thy flight, 
And make me a BOY again, just for tonight." 

Now let us take a peep into the Virginia homes. 
What were the women doing? Ah, they were as 
busy as bees. These boys must be equipped not only 
with munitions of war, but each boy must take with 
him as many home comforts as could possibly be 
compressed into a bundle small enough to be car- 
ried. When he was at home it took a good-sized 
room to hold these things ; now he must put them 
into his pocket or on his back, and it took all of a 
mother's skill to gather these things up into the 
least possible space, that her boy might have in the 
camp life all that a mother's love could give him. 
The Government would furnish the guns, the pow- 
der, the lead, the canteen and knapsack and haver- 
sack; the tinshop, the tincup ; the shoemaker, the 
boots; the bookstore, the Bible (every boy must 
carry a Bible), but all the clothing, all the little 
necessary articles for comfort and health, must be 
manufactured in the home. Did you ever open the 



24 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

outside casing of one of these large patent beehives 
and see the bees at work inside? What rushing and 
pushing and confusion ! Every bee, so far as human 
eye can see, seems busy. This beehive was but a 
replica of a Virginia home in the spring of 1861. 

While these things were going on in the home 
the boys were drilling in the field, for they were 
now out of school. All were anxious to get their 
equipment, and to be the first to offer their services 
to the Governor. 

Had these boys any conception of what they were 
rushing into? Suppose just at this time the cur- 
tain had been lifted, and they could have seen Bull 
Run and Seven Pines, Manassas and Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Gettysburg 
and The Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor 
and Appomattox? And if they could have seen 
a picture of their homes and fields as they appeared 
in 1865, would they have rushed on? Perhaps I 
can answer that question by pointing to the battle- 
field of New Market. In the fall of 1864, after 
nearly all the great battles had been fought, the 
young cadets from Lexington, Va., who had not 
yet been under fire, but with a full knowledge of 
what war meant, rushed into this battle like veter- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 25 

ans and were mowed down as grain, their little bod- 
ies lying scattered over the field like sheaves of 
wheat. 

"O war, thou hast thy fierce delight, 
Thy gleams of joy intensely bright; 
Such gleams as from thy polished shield 
Fly dazzling o'er the battle-field." 

Yes, war has its bright, attractive side, and those 
boys, as I knew them, would have looked at these 
moving-pictures as they came one after another 
into view, and then perhaps have turned pale; per- 
haps they would have shuddered and then cried 
out, "On with the dance; let joy be unconfined;" 
and it was literally on with the dance. School, as 
I have just said, was out, and every laddie had his 
lassie, and you may be sure they improved the time. 
It was drill through the day and dance through the 
night. 

"No sleep till morn when youth and pleasure meet 
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet." 

The boys were happy, and "all went merry as a 
marriage bell," and well that it was so. When we 
looked into the hive we saw that the bees were busy, 
but as far as human eye could discover, there was no 
head; all was confusion; it was pushing and shov- 



26 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ing and coming and going, and one might have 
asked the question, What are they doing? What 
does it all mean? If we could have seen farther 
into the hive we would have discovered that back 
of this busy throng sat the queen, and that these 
were her subjects, doing her bidding. She was 
sending out her little rogues to rob the flowers, and 
they were coming back richly laden with spoils. 
This was the raw material, and it was being worked 
up. When the season was over and the flowers 
were dead, and we drew from the hive the finished 
product, so perfect in all its parts and richly stored 
with sweetened treasures, we began to realize that 
there was a master mind behind it all. Do you sup- 
pose for a moment that when these young men and 
boysof Virginia, infact from allover theSouth,who 
were rushing with such intense enthusiasm in the 
Confederate ranks, these fathers and mothers and 
sisters , who were equipping these youths with com- 
forts without which they could not have endured 
the hardships of the camp, do you suppose they 
were but following the dictates of a few maddened, 
fire-eating fanatics, and that the whole would end 
in debt, death and desolation? If you had lived in 
1861 you might have been excused for thinking so. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 27 

But what do you think of it today, as the finished 
product begins to unfold itself to our view? Do 
you not believe there was a master mind behind it 
all, a King, and that these boys were but part of 
His royal subjects, doing His will? Suppose there 
had been no rush and no adequate army at Bull 
Run to meet McDowell and his forces as they came 
marching out from Washington with flying colors? 
Suppose the Confederates had been beaten at Bull 
Run and Richmond had fallen, and the war had 
ended then? What miserable creatures we poor 
devils of the South would have been! The world 
would have laughed at us. We would have lost 
all of our self-respect. A cycle of time could not 
have wiped out our self-contempt, and God might 
have said, ''I cannot build up a great nation with 
material like this." The North would have had no 
Grand Army Veterans, and no deeds of heroism 
with which to keep alive the fire of patriotism in 
the hearts of their children. Spain in 1898 might 
have successfully defied us, and China and Japan 
have roamed at will over our land. No; the war 
was a necessity. It was costly, but was worth all 
that it cost. It has made of us a very great nation. 
Now I shall go back and tell how it was done. I 



28 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

will do so by narrating my own experience, and as 
my experience, with but slight variation, was the 
experience of every boy who served in the Confed- 
erate army, the reader will have a fair idea of what 
the boy's life was during those four years. 

The firing upon Fort Sumter was like throwing 
a stone into a hornet's nest. All the North was 
aroused. Troops came pouring into Washington 
by every train. A Massachusetts regiment, in pass- 
ing through the streets of Baltimore, was mobbed, 
and the song "Maryland, My Maryland" was 
wafted out on the air. 

Maryland boys, under cover of night, were cross- 
ing the Potomac to help drive the invaders back. 
They came singing ''The Despot's Heel Is on Thy 
Shore." Rumors flew thick and fast. Now^ and then 
shots were exchanged between opposing pickets as 
they walked to and fro on the banks of the Potomac 
river that separated them. In fact, the curtain was 
up and the play had begun. Harper's Ferry, Lees- 
burg and Manassas (see map*) became strategical 

*In reading the book, spread out the map before you and follow 
the movements of the armies. There is a detached map with each 
book. The main battlefields are marked with a flag, but there are over 
SO more ; in fact, eliminating the rough mountain ranges, nearly every 
foot of Virginia soil covered by this map felt the tramp of the soldier 
and heard the hiss of the bullet. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 29 

points, and at each of these the Confederates were 
concentrating their forces. 

By June i, 1861, Jos. E. Johnston at Harper's 
Ferry had an army of 10,000. Gen. A. P. Hill at 
Leesburg, 3000. Gen P. T. Beauregard at Manas- 
sas, 12,000. These were Confederates. On the 
Union side. Gen. Patterson had an army of about 
15,000 confronting Johnston, and McDowell at the 
head of 35,000 was crossing the Potomac at Wash- 
ington en route for Bull Run. 



Chapter II. 

From Bull Run to Seven Pines. 

"Only a boy ! and his father had said 
He never could let his youngest go; 

Two already were lying dead 

Under the feet of the trampling foe." 

As the advance guard of the Federal army en- 
tered Alexandria, Va., on the south side of the Po- 
tomac, a Confederate flag was seen floating from 
the roof of a hotel kept by one Jackson. Col. Els- 
worth, commanding the advance force, hauled it 
down. Jackson shot him dead, and was in turn 
killed by Elsworth's soldiers. This, I believe, was 
the first blood shed on Virginia soil. 

As McDowell moved his army toward Manassas, 
Johnston fell back toward Winchester, so as to be 
in a position to reinforce Beauregard if it became 
necessary. 

Before McDowell had reached Fairfax Court- 
house the greater portion of Johnston's army was 
en route for Manassas. So closely did Johnston con- 
ceal his movements that Patterson was not aware 
that Johnston had left his front until it was too late 

80 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 3 1 

to follow him. The little army at Leesburg also 
marched rapidly to Manassas. 

These united Confederate armies numbered 
about 27,000 men. McDowell's army, as I have 
stated, numbered 35,000. 

In order to be prepared for an emergency, the 
Governor of Virginia had called the militia from 
the counties adjacent to Manassas to assemble at 
that place. That included my county. I joined the 
militia and marched to Manassas, arriving there a 
few days before the battle. 

There was skirmishing for some days between 
the advanced forces of the two armies, but the real 
battle was fought on Sunday, July 21, 1861. 

My command took no part in this battle, but it 
was in line of battle in the rear of the fighting 
forces, ready to take part if its services were needed. 

Soldiers, like sailors, are superstitious. As the 
hour for the battle drew near, those of a mystical 
turn of mind saw, or thought they saw, a strange 
combination of stars in the heavens. Some said, 
"I never saw the moon look that way before." 
Clouds assumed mysterious shapes. Some saw in 
them marching armies, and other fearful phenom- 
ena. A strange dog was seen one night passing in 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 33 

he occupied when loitering around the camp with 
the enemy far away from the front. 

This was the state of things as I saw them in and 
around Manassas on the eve of the first battle of 
Bull Run. Before the rising of the sun on 
that beautiful Sabbath day, July 21, 1861, 
the cannon could be heard in the distance, which 
told us that the two combatants had locked horns. 
All day long we could hear the booming of the guns 
and see the smoke of the battle over the tops of the 
low pines in our front, and I was ever so anxious to 
get closer and see the real thing, but soldiers cannot 
go just where they may desire, especially when a 
great battle is in progress. 

Early in the day I saw what thrilled me no lit- 
tle. It was the first blood I had ever seen shed on a 
battlefield. I saw coming across the field, moving 
quite slowly, a man leading a horse. As they ap- 
proached I saw that the horse was limping, and the 
man was a soldier. The horse was badly wounded 
and bleeding, and seemed to be in great pain. 
Whenever the man would stop the horse would at- 
tempt to lie down. I wanted to go to him and put 
my arms around his neck and tell him he was a 
hero. The man and the horse passed by, for there 



34 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

was too much going on to allow a single wounded 
horse to absorb all of one's attention. 

Toward the afternoon news came in from the 
front that our army was beaten and was in full 
retreat. 

Every available man was called from the camp, 
and a second line of defense was formed, behind 
which the retreating army could rally and make 
another stand. It was then that I began to realize 
what war was. 

About five o'clock a soldier came across the field 
from the front with a gun on his shoulder. As he 
came up to our line someone asked him how the bat- 
tle was going. He replied, 'We've got them on the 
trot." Then there was w^ild cheering; the soldier 
was right. McDowell's army was beaten and in 
full retreat toward Washington. It proved to be 
the worst rout that any army suflfered during the 
Civil War. 

At one stage of the battle it looked very doubtful 
for our side. Beauregard believed that he was 
beaten, and had ordered his forces to fall back, call- 
ing on Johnston to cover his retreat. But the arrival 
of Elzey's brigade of Johnston's army upon the 
field just at this psychological moment turned the 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 35 

battle in our favor. A member of the First Mary- 
land Regiment, forming a part of this brigade, has 
given me a graphic description of how the brigade 
was hurried from the railroad station at Manassas, 
across the fields for five miles under the hot July 
sun, the men almost famished for water and cov- 
ered with dust, most of the distance at double-quick, 
toward the firing line, from which the panic- 
stricken Confederates were fleeing in great dis- 
order. But I shall only narrate what I saw myself, 
and will not quote farther, however interesting it 
may be. A train came down from Richmond about 
three o'clock, bringing the President of the Con- 
federacy, Jefiferson C. Davis, and fresh troops, but 
they arrived too late to be of any special service. 
I saw the President as he mounted a gray horse, 
with a number of other prominent Confederates 
from Richmond, and move ofif toward the battle- 
field. 

A short time after this they began to bring in the 
wounded from the front. I stood by and saw the 
pale face and glassy eyes of Gen. Bee as they took 
him dying from the ambulance and carried him into 
a house near the Junction. It was he who an hour 
or so before had said to his retreating troops, '^Look 



36 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

at Jackson ; he stands like a stone wall." That night 
Gen. Bee died, and Jackson was ever known after- 
ward as "Stonewall Jackson." 

Yes, the Union army was beaten, and their re- 
treat developed into a disastrous rout, although they 
were not pursued by the Confederates. 

"While there was great rejoicing all over the 
South on account of this splendid victory gained by 
our raw recruits, there was no noisy demonstrations. 
Crowds thronged the streets, but no bonfires lit up 
the darkness of the night. No cannon thundered 
out salutes. The church steeples were silent, ex- 
cept when in solemn tone they called the people to 
prayer." 

The next day the Confederate Congress met and 
passed the following resolutions: 

"We recognize the hand of the most high God, 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, in the glo- 
rious victory with which he has crowned our armies 
at Manassas, and that the people of these Confed- 
erate States are invited by appropriate services on 
the ensuing Sabbath to offer up their united thanks- 
giving and prayers for this mighty deliverance." 

The losses in men were as follows : Union army, 
3000; Confederates, 2000. The latter captured 27 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 37 

cannon, 1500 prisoners, an immense quantity of 
small arms, ammunition, stores, etc. 

I promptly laid aside my flint-lock musket and 
took a Springfield rifle. 

I am often amused as I remember some of the 
thoughts that passed through my mind, and some 
of the things I did on this momentous occasion. For 
instance, we were ordered to ''sleep on our arms" 
the night whose dawn was to usher in the battle. 
I had heard a good deal about soldiers obeying 
orders. I thought of "the boy who stood on the 
burning deck," so w^hen I laid down that night with 
old Mother Earth for a bed, I found myself stretch- 
ed out at full length on top of my musket. It was a 
little rough, but the mere thought of being a soldier 
and "sleeping on my arms" on the eve of battle 
made my bed feel as soft as a bed of roses. And 
then the gun! It was an old flint-lock musket, 
minus the flint, and no powder or ball. But I was 
at least a soldier and had a gun, and would surely 
see the battle and could write home all about it. A 
soldier seldom ever thinks that he will be among 
the slain; he may be wounded, or taken prisoner, 
but it is always the other fellow that is going to be 
killed. 



Chapter III. 

From Bull Run to Seven Pines {Continued) . 

"You have called us and we're coming, by Richmond's bloody tide 
To lay us down, for freedom's sake, our brothers' bones beside." 

The several battles around Richmond in the 
spring of 1862, viz., Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, 
Beaver Dam, Malvern Hill, Gaines' Mill, I have 
grouped under the head of Seven Pines. 

The fall and winter months following the battle 
of Bull Run were spent for the most part by both 
sides in recruiting their armies and getting ready 
for a desperate struggle, which would inevitably 
come when spring arrived the following year. 

There were occasional raids and skirmishes, but 
no decisive battles were fought until the following 
spring, except the battle of Ball's BlufT, near Lees- 
burg, in which battle the Eighth Virginia played a 
conspicuous part. One of my brothers was in this 
battle, and several of my schoolmates were killed 
and wounded. 

Johnston's armya fewdays after the battle had in- 
creased to 40,000. He moved forward and occu- 

38 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 39 

pied a position near Centerville, and there he win- 
tered. Jackson, however, was detached and sent 
back to Winchester to guard the valley, and became 
commander-in-chief of that section. The forces 
that came down from Leesburg returned to their 
old position. 

During the winter the soldiers were granted fre- 
quent furloughs, the militia was disbanded, and I 
went back home. 

But when the birds began heralding the coming 
of spring there was a call from the Confederate 
Government not only for the return of all enlisted 
men to their commands, but for every able-bodied 
white male citizen between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five to enlist. 

I started out from Middleburg with Edwin 
Bailey and several Marylanders, the latter having 
crossed the Potomac for the purpose of joining the 
Confederate army. Bailey was already a member 
of the Eighth Virginia Infantry, and was at home 
on furlough. 

My destination was the Sixth Virginia Cavalry, 
which was then with Stonewall Jackson in the val- 
ley of Virginia. This regiment was in Robinson's 
brigade, Fitzhugh Lee's division, the whole cavalry 



40 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

force of the army of Northern Virginia being com- 
manded by Gen. J. E. B. Stuart. I was on horse- 
back; the others on foot. 

It reminded me of the resurrection morn, except 
the trooping thousands were coming from the top 
of the ground and not from under it. From hamlet 
and villa, from the lordly mansion and mountain 
shack, from across the Potomac, the boys and young 
men of the South were coming in answer to the call. 
The Government at Washington had called for 
half a million; the Government at Richmond had 
called for every able-bodied son from eighteen to 
forty-five, and they were coming. 

The nearest point at which I could reach the 
Confederate line was Harrisonburg, Va. All the 
district between my home and Harrisonburg, and 
on the line stretching from there south to the James 
river, and north into West Virginia, had been aban- 
doned to the enemy. Hence, it was necessary for 
us to move with great caution, to avoid being inter- 
cepted by the bluecoats. The little caravan moved 
up the pike that runs from Alexandria across the 
Blue Ridge into the valley by the way of Upper- 
ville and Paris. When we reached the mountain 
at Paris we moved along its foot, traveling mostly 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 4I 

by night and resting by day, hiding ourselves in the 
heavy timber that stretched along the slopes of the 
mountain. We had no trouble procuring food 
from the little farm houses that we passed. Occa- 
sionally we employed a guide, whom we paid. 
These guides took great pains to magnify the dan- 
ger that surrounded us, and told us of the narrow 
escapes of other caravans that had preceded us. 
This was done in order to draw as large a fee from 
us as possible. The distance to Harrisonburg 
was about 100 miles. We finally reached our des- 
tination. 

During the winter and early spring the North 
had raised a very large army, splendidly equipped, 
and placed under the command of Gen. George B. 
McClellan. This army was taken mostly by boat 
to a point on the James river, from which point it 
took up a line of march toward Richmond. Mc- 
Clellan's army was the largest and best equipped 
that had ever trod American soil. 

McClellan was the idol of the North, and there 
was very little doubt in the minds of the Northern 
people that when he met the Confederate forces de- 
fending Richmond the Capital of the Confed- 



42 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

eracy would be captured, and the army defending 
it destroyed or captured. 

The Confederate forces gradually fell back be- 
fore McClellan's army as it advanced along the 
James river, until the invaders could see the spires 
of the Confederate Capitol. 

Of course, this move of McClellan's having made 
Johnston's position at Centerville untenable, he 
withdrew his army and marched to Richmond, so 
as to confront McClellan on his arrival. 

The day finally arrived when McClellan was to 
make the attack that was to result in the overthrow 
of the Confederacy. 

While this was going on, Gen. Joseph E. John- 
ston (who commanded the Confederate forces) was 
busy strengthening his position and preparing his 
army for the coming struggle. 

Jackson had in the meantime distinguished him- 
self in the valley by routing three armies, each 
larger than his own, that had been sent out to cap- 
ture him. Having defeated these armies, he fell 
back beyond Harrisonburg, and then quietly slip- 
ped out of the valley, crossed the Blue Ridge moun- 
tains, and made a rapid march toward Richmond. 

Instead of uniting his forces with those of John- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 43 

ston, he moved his army to a point toward McClel- 
lan's rear, and at once began an attack which, com- 
bined with Johnston's attack in the front, resulted 
in a disastrous retreat of the Northern army. 

Johnston was severely wounded during the first 
days of the battle, which lasted seven days, and 
Gen. Robert E. Lee assumed command of the army 
now known as the army of Northen Virginia, and 
held the position to the end of the war. Lee also 
became commander-in-chief of all the Confederate 
armies. 

When McClellan fully realized that it was Jack- 
son's army from the valley that ^'was goring his 
side like the horns of an angry bull," it is said that 
the scene at his headquarters was intensely dra- 
matic. From information received from Washing- 
ton, McClellan had every reason to believe that 
Jackson and his entire army were either prisoners 
or cooped up somewhere in the valley north of 
Harrisonburg, but as the sound of Jackson's guns 
grew louder and nearer, and couriers with panting 
steeds came dashing in confirming the truth, he was 
forced to believe that the noise was Jackson's ^'can- 
non's opening roar." ''Then there was hurrying 
to and fro and mounting in hot haste." Never did 



44 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

human brain work quicker than did McClellan's 
when he realized his position. Who but a Napo- 
leon could provide so quickly for such an emer- 
gency? The masterly manner in which McClellan 
changed his base and saved his army, with three 
such strategists as Jackson, Lee and Johnston to 
reckon with, showed military skill of the highest 
order. 

Someone in conversation with Gen. Lee after the 
war asked who was the greatest soldier on the side 
of the North. Lee replied, ''McClellan, by all 
odds." The fact is, the Government at Washington 
never gave McClellan a fair chance. Gen. Lee 
came to Richmond from West Virginia, where his 
campaign had been a failure, and was elevated at 
once to the most important post in the Confederate 
army, while McClellan was humiliated by being 
relieved of his command just at a time when he was 
prepared by experience to put into use his great 
talent. History is bound to record him a place 
among the famous generals. 

The battle lasted seven full days. The Confed- 
erate victory was complete. Millions of dollars' 
worth of supplies were captured or destroyed, and 
McClellan was compelled to beat a hasty retreat 
to Washington to defend the city. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 45 

The spoils of this battle that fell into the hands 
of the Confederates were 10,000 prisoners, 35,000 
rifles, 55 cannon, ammunition, provision stores of 
every kind, almost beyond computation. The losses 
of the two armies in killed and wounded were 
nearly equal — about 10,000 each. 

Some idea can be formed of the captured stores 
when it is remembered that to provide for an army 
such as McClellan's, 600 tons of ammunition, food, 
forage and medical supplies had to be forwarded 
from Washington every day. If he kept a thirty 
days' supply on hand, we have the enormous sum of 
18,000 tons that either fell into the hands of the 
Confederates or was destroyed. 

When I reached Harrisonburg I found the Sixth 
Virginia Cavalry had left the valley with Jackson's 
army. I followed as rapidly as possible, and met 
the regiment at Gordonsville, with Jackson's army, 
coming back from the battle and hurrying on to- 
ward Manassas to attack Pope, who had gathered 
an army there to protect Washington while Mc- 
Clellan was besieging Richmond. I joined Com- 
pany A of the Sixth Virginia Cavalry and felt that 
I was a full-fledged cavalryman and was ready to 
take part in anything that the regiment was called 
upon to do. 



Chapter IV. 

From Seven Pines to Antietam 

"On that pleasant morn of early fall, 

When Lee marched over the mountain wall." 

"Over the mountains, winding down, 
Horse and foot into Frederick town." 

A part of Pope's army, under Banks, had been 
pushed forward as far as Cedar Run, about half 
way between Manassas and Gordonsville. Jackson 
met this force and scattered it like chafif, and then 
moved rapidly toward Manassas. He did not move 
in a straight line, but made a detour to the left, and 
by rapid marches placed his army in the rear of 
Pope at Manassas. 

One day the army covered forty miles. Riding 
along the dusty highway, Jackson noticed a sore- 
foot, barefoot infantryman, limping along, trying 
to keep upwith his command. Cominguptohim,he 
dismounted and told the soldier to mount his horse, 
while he trudged along by his side. The next day 
the same soldier was found among the dead, with 
his face turned up to the sun, having given his life 

48 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 47 

for the man who gave him a lift. It was this lift 
that had cost him his life ; but for it, he would have 
been among the stragglers, too late for the battle. 

My command, during the march, got in frequent 
touch with the enemy, and at one point, namely, 
Catletts Station, on the Orange and Alexandria 
Railroad, came very near capturing Gen. Pope 
himself. We got into his camp at night and into 
his tent, and took his boots and spurs, and papers 
that gave Jackson some valuable information. 

As soon as Gen. Lee was satisfied that McClellan 
was well on his way toward Washington, he put 
his whole army in motion and moved rapidly to 
join Jackson, who would sorely need him in his 
attack upon Pope at Manassas ; in fact, Jackson had 
halted after the battle of Cedar Run for a day or 
two to allow Gen. Lee to come up. 

An event occurred during this battle around 
Richmond that brought sorrow to my home. My 
brother Howard was slightly wounded in the arm, 
taken to the hospital at Richmond, and died in a 
few days of a malignant fever, andwas buried some- 
where among the unknown dead around Richmond. 
The family made several attempts to locate his 
grave, but were unsuccessful. 



48 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

"On fame's eternal camping ground, 

His silent tent is spread; 
While glory guards with solemn round 

The bivouac of the dead." 

His picture on the opposite page Is from an old 
daguerreotype, taken just before entering the Con- 
federate service. 

This move of Jackson's to the rear of Pope at 
Manassas enabled him to capture many carloads 
of supplies and munitions of war, greatly assisting 
the armies of Lee and Jackson In their undertaking. 
A goodly portion of McClellan's army had em- 
barked at Occoquan and marched across to the as- 
sistance of Pope. Notwithstanding this fact, the 
combined armies of Lee and Jackson were more 
than a match for Pope, and he was defeated and 
his army routed, leaving over 9000 of his dead and 
wounded on the field. His entire loss, as given by 
the ''New Standard Encyclopedia," which in- 
cluded prisoners, was 20,000, while the Confeder- 
ates', by the same authority, is placed at 12,000 

There fell into the hands of the Confederates 
7000 prisoners, 30 cannon, 20,000 rifles. The cap- 
tured stores, including two miles of loaded cars on 




ROBERT HOWARD HOPKINS. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 49 

the track, was enormous, much of which the Con- 
federates had to burn. 

This is called the Second Battle of Manassas to 
distinguish it from the first battle fought on the 
same ground, and called by the North the Battle 
of Bull Run, but by the South as the First Battle 
of Manassas. 

Pope lost no time in getting behind his intrench- 
ments at Washington. My command took part in 
the battle, and made a charge just as the sun was 
dropping behind the horizon. Lee did not follow 
Pope toward Washington, but moved in a straight 
line toward the Upper Potomac, leaving Washing- 
ton to his right. 

At this time my company was detached from the 
Sixth Regiment and made a bodyguard to Gen. 
Lee. We kept close to his person both night and 
day. 

Part of the time Gen. Lee rode in an ambulance 
with both hands bandaged, his horse, ^^Traveler," 
having fallen over a log and crippled Lee's hands. 
This gave me a good opportunity of seeing the 
great soldier at close range. 

I remember one afternoon, when toward sunset 
the army having gone into camp for the night, Gen. 



50 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Lee's headquarters being established in a litle farm- 
house near Chantilla, I think in Loudoun county, 
the General went out with one of his stafip officers 
for a walk into an apple orchard. They were gone 
perhaps an hour. While they were gone a guard 
had been set around the cottage with instructions to 
let none pass without an order from Gen. Lee. 

When Gen. Lee returned with his aid bv his 
side, he was halted by Frank Peak (a member of 
my company, now living in Alexandria, Va.). 
They both halted, and Peak said to them, ^'My in- 
structions are to let none pass without an order 
from Gen. Lee." Gen. Lee turned to his aid and 
said, "Stop, the sentinel has halted us." The officer 
(I think it was Col. Marshall, who afterward lived 
in Baltimore, and died there not long ago) stepped 
forward and said, ''This is Gen. Lee himself, who 
gives all orders." Peak saluted them, and they 
passed on. 

Before day the next morning the army was in 
motion toward Maryland, Gen. Lee still riding in 
the ambulance, very much, no doubt, to the chagrin 
of ''Traveler," who was led by a soldier, just behind 
the ambulance. 

Owing to the hard-fought battles around Rich- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 5 1 

mond, Cedar Run and Manassas (which followed 
each other in rapid succession) , and the long, weary 
marches through the hot July days, often far into the 
night, many of Lee's soldiers, who were foot-sore 
and broken down, straggled from the ranks, being 
unable to keep up with the stronger men. So great 
was the number that it was said that half his army 
were straggling along the roads and through the 
fields, subsisting as they could on fruits and berries, 
and whatever food they could get from farm- 
houses. 

As the army crossed the Potomac (four miles 
east of Leesburg) Gen. Lee had to make some pro- 
vision for the stragglers. It would not do to let 
them follow the army into the enemy's country, be- 
cause they would all be captured. He concluded 
to abandon his bodyguard and leave it at the river, 
with instructions to turn the stragglers and tell 
them to move toward Winchester, beyond the Shen- 
andoah. This was the point, no doubt, that Gen. 
Lee had fixed as the place to which he would bring 
his army when his Maryland campaign was over. 

It was with much regret that we had to give up 
our post of honor as guard to the head of the army 



52 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. j 

\ 

to take charge of sore-footed stragglers. But a sol- | 
dier's duty is to obey orders. 

The army crossed the river into Maryland, and ; 
we were kept busy for a week sending the stragglers \ 
toward Winchester. j 

Some bore wounds received in the battles men- '. 
tioned, and their bandages in many cases still show- : 
ed the dried blood as evidence that they had not al- i 
ways been stragglers. Some were sick, and some too | 
lame to walk, and it became necessary for us to go I 
out among the farmers and procure wagons to haul i 
the disabled. In doing so, it was my duty to call on ; 
an old Quaker family by the name of Janney, near i 
Goose Creek meeting-house, Loudoun county, \ 
and get his four-horse wagon and order it to Lees- 
burg. This I did in good soldier style, not appre- 
ciating the old adage that ''Chickens come home to ' 

roost." 

I 

After seeing the wagon on the road, accompanied j 
by friend Janney, who rode on horseback (the| 
wagon being driven by his hired man), I went to 
other farms, doing the same thing. And thus the : 
lame, sick and sore-footed and the rag-and-tag were I 
pushed on, shoved on and hauled on toward Win- ! 
Chester, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. ^3 

Some years after this I had occasion to visit the 
same spot, in company with a young lady. 

It was the Friends' quarterly meeting time at 
Goose Creek. We attended the services, and, of 
course, were invited out to dinner. It fell to our 
lot to dine at the home of friend Janney, from 
whom I had taken the wagon. I did not recognize 
the house or the family until I was painfully re- 
minded of it in the following manner: 

We were seated at a long table in the dining- 
room (I think there were at least twenty at the 
table), and several young ladies were acting as 
waitresses. I was quite bashful in those days, but 
was getting along very nicely, until one of the 
young waitresses, perhaps with no intention of em- 
barrassing me, focusing her mild blue eyes upon 
mine, said, ''I think I recognize thee as one of the 
soldiers who took our wagon and team for the use 
of Lee's army, en route for Maryland." I did not 
look up, but felt that twice twenty eyes were cen- 
tered on me. I cannot recall what I said, but I am 
sure I pleaded guilty; besides, I felt that all the 
blood in my body had gone to my face, and that 
every drop was crying out, ''Yes, he's the very fel- 



54 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

low." It spoiled my dinner, but they all seemed to 
think it was a good joke on me. 

Quakers, it must be remembered, were not as a 
rule in sympathy with the secession movement, 
which greatly intensified the discomfort of my posi- 
tion. My young friend, however, although a mem- 
ber of that society, never deserted me, and sometime 
afterward became more to me than a friend; she 
has been faithful ever since, and is now sitting by 
me as I write these lines. 

Now I must go back to war scenes. 

I cannot remember, of course, just the day, but 
while we were busy gathering up these stragglers 
we could distinctly hear the booming of the guns 
that told us the two armies had met and that there 
was heavy fighting on Maryland soil. 

The first sounds came from toward Harper's 
Ferry, and we soon afterward learned the result. 

Jackson had been detached from the main army, 
had surrounded and captured Harper's Ferry, tak- 
ing 13,000 prisoners and many army supplies. 
Among the prisoners was A. W. Green of New 
York, who afterward became pastor of my church, 
St. John's, corner Madison avenue and Laurens 
street, Baltimore, Md. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 51; 

Mr. Green sa^^s that when the prisoners were all 
lined up, Jackson rode along their front and tried 
to comfort them as best he could. He said, "Men, 
this is the fate of war; it is you today, it may be us 
tomorrow." After paroling his prisoners, Jackson 
hurried to rejoin Lee, who was being hotly pressed 
by McClellan at Antietam. Lee's united forces 
at this time could not have numbered over 40,000 
men, while McClellan, who was still in command 
of the Union army, had a force of over 100,000. 

McClellan made the attack, was repulsed with 
terrible loss, but the North claimed the victory, be- 
cause Lee retired during the second night after the 
battle and recrossed the Potomac, falling back to 
Winchester, where he was reinforced by the strag- 
glers who had been gathering there for two wxeks 
or more. 

This series of battles, beginning with Richmond 
in the spring and ending at Antietam in the early 
fall, had so exhausted the armies that both sides 
were glad to take a rest. They had been marching 
and fighting from early spring all through the 
summer, and were thoroughly exhausted. 

lee's army in a trap. 

We have all heard of the famous lost dispatch 
that was picked up in the streets of Frederick, Md., 



56 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 



after the place had been evacuated by the Confed- 
erates. It was called ''Special Order No. 191." A 
copy of this order was sent by Gen. Lee to each of 
his generals. The one intended for Gen. A. P. Hill 
never reached him. It was dropped by a courier 
and fell into the hands of Gen. McClellan. This 
telltale slip of paper that might have ended the 
war was found wrapped around two cigars. It read 
as follows : 

"Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, near Frederick, Md. 

"September 9, 1862. 
"Special Orders, No. 191. 

"The army will resume its march tomorrow, taking the Hagers- 
town road. General Jackson's command will form the advance, and, 
after passing Middletown, with such portion as he may select, take 
the route toward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most con- 
venient point, and, by Friday night, take possession of the Baltimore 
& Ohio Railroad, capture such of the enemy as may be at Martins- 
burg, and intercept such as may attempt to escape from Harper's 
Ferry. 

"General Longstreet's command will pursue the same road as far 
as Boonsborough, where it will halt with the reserve, supply and 
baggage trains of the army, 

"General McLaws, with his own division and that of General R. 
H. Anderson, will follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middle- 
town he will take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morn- 
ing possess himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to cap- 
ture the enemy at Harper's Ferry and vicinity. 

"General Walker, with his division, after accomplishing the ob- 
ject in which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's 
Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Lou- 
doun Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Key's Ford on his 
left, and the road between the end of the mountain and the Potomac 
on his right. He will, as far as practicable, co-operate with General 
McLaws and General Jackson in intercepting the retreat of the 
enemy 

"General D. H, Hill's division will form the rear guard of the 
army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve ar- 
tillery, ordnance, supply-trains, etc., will precede General Hill. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 57 

I" 

"General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany 
the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson and McLaws, and 
with the main body of the cavalry will cover the route of the army 
and bring up all stragglers that may have been left behind. 

"The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws and Walker, after 
accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will 
join the main body of the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown. 

"Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in 
the regimental ordnance wagons for use of the men at their encamp- 
ments to procure wood, etc. 

"By command of General R. E. Lee," 

With this document in his hands and with Lee's 
army divided as it was McClellan felt that his hour 
had come. He sent the following dispatch to Presi- 
dent Lincoln: 

* * * "I have all the plans of the rebels, and 
will catch them in their own trap. * * * Gen- 
eral Lee's order to his army accidentally came into 
my hands this evening, and discloses his plan of 
campaign." 

The destruction of Lee's armv at this time would 
certainly have ended hostilities. Gen. Longstreet 
was opposed to the movement against Harper's 
Ferry. He said it was fraught with too much dan- 
ger. It was rendered much more so when McClel- 
lan came into possession of Lee's plans. The exact 
number of prisoners captured at Harper's Ferry 
and in its environments were 12,520, together with 
73 cannon, 13,000 rifles, several hundred wagons 
and large quantities of provisions and other army 
stores. 



Chapter V. 

From Antietam to Chancellorsville. 

"Two armies covered hill and plain, 

Where Rappahannock's waters 
Ran deeply crimsoned with the stain 

Of battle's recent slaughters." 

After resting a while at Winchester Lee's army 
began its march leisurely back toward Richmond, 
and took up a position near Fredericksburg, a point 
about half way between Washington and Rich- 
mond, i :|^ V-|l 

McClellan was relieved of his command, and 
Gen. Burnside took his place and gathered a large 
army in front of Fredericksburg on the Rappahan- 
nock river. 

About the middle of December Burnside crossed 
the river at Fredericksburg by means of pontoon 
bridges and attacked Lee and Jackson just outside 
of the town of Fredericksburg. 

A severe battle was fought, and Burnside was de- 
feated w^ith terrible loss. He recrossed the river 
and wept when he contemplated the awful slaugh- 
ter that had been made in his army. This ended 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 59 

the campaign of 1862. It is said that more soldiers 
fell in this battle in four hours than were killed in 
the entire Boer War. The historian has placed 
Burnside's losses at 12,311 ; Lee's at 5409. 

Both armies went into winter quarters, and there 
was no general battle until the next spring, but fre- 
quent skirmishes between bodies of cavalry on both 
sides as they marched to and fro protecting their 
respective encampments. 

From Harper's Ferry to Staunton, Va., stretches 
a part of the Blue Ridge mountains that played a 
conspicuous part in the war. 

The mountain is impassable for armies except 
through the gaps that occur every twenty to thirty 
miles. These gaps were always closely guarded by 
the Confederates, and through them the armies 
frequently marched and counter-marched as occa- 
sion required. 

If Jackson needed reinforcements in the valley, 
they were sent to him through one of these gaps; 
and on the other hand, if the armies defending 
Richmond needed reinforcements, it was Jackson's 
custom to give the enemy a stinging blow and send 
him in full retreat down the valley toward Wash- 
ington, then cross through one of these gaps with 



6o FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

a portion of his army and reinforce the armies de- 
fending Richmond. 

When the armies fell back from Winchester my 
company of cavalry was left to guard the Blue- 
mount gap, then called Snickersville. A little later 
the gap was abandoned, and we were ordered to 
Ashby's gap, farther up the valley, where we en- 
camped near the little town of Paris, at the foot 
of the mountain, and put out our pickets on the east 
side of the mountain below Upperville on the pike 
that leads through Middleburg and on to Alexan- 
dria, Va., just under the shadow of the capital of 
the Northern nation, I will call it. 

One day our pickets reported "the enemy's cav- 
alry advancing up the pike toward Upperville." 
Our captain (Bruce Gibson) ordered the bugle 
sounded, and 90 to 100 men were soon in the saddle 
and on the march to meet the enemy. 

It was four miles' to Upperville, and as we ap- 
proached the town we could distinctly see the 
enemy's cavalry filling the streets. 

We halted at a point just opposite the home of 
our captain (where the family were on the porch 
watching the movements of both sides). Many of 
the men of the company lived in that neighborhood. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 6l 

It was eight miles from my home, hence this was 
no place to show the ^Vhite feather." 

I was riding a fiery young mare. She was never 
satisfied unless she was a little ahead. She had a 
mouth that no bit could hold. 

The captain ordered us to move forward, and as 
we approached the town, four abreast, our speed 
was increased to a trot, then to a gallop. 

To the best of my recollection my position was 
about the middle of the command, but in spite of 
my tugging at the bit, my young steed carried me 
up to the front, and when we got close enough to 
the enemy to see the whites of their eyes, I was a 
little closer to them than I wanted to be, and I'll 
frankly confess it wasn't bravery that put me there. 
We were close enough to discover that we were 
running into a whole regiment of Union cavalry, 
and if we had continued, it would have meant an- 
nihilation. 

The captain ordered right about, retreat! At 
this point to get those loo horses turned around in 

that street and get out of the reach of looo guns in 
the hands of looo Bluecoats, was a knotty problem. 
If the enemy had charged us just at this time, our 
destruction would have been just as complete as 



62 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

it would have been if we had gone ahead; but they 
hesitated. Perhaps they were afraid of running 
into a trap. 

I ran my horse up against a pump, and finally 
got turned around, and was soon leaving my com- 
rades behind me, for she was fleet of foot. But all 
at once I felt my steed going down under me. I 
thought that she was shot, but did not have much 
time to think about it, for I was soon for a few 
minutes unconscious. My horse had tripped and 
fallen, and, of course, I could not keep the saddle, 
going at a speed like that. The horse just behind 
leaped over me, horse and all (so the rider after- 
ward told me). When I came to myself I was 
standing in the middle of the road with a crowd of 
Yankees around me, among them the colonel of the 
regiment. I was holding in my hand the handle of 
my pistol, the barrel of which had been broken off 
by the fall. When called upon to surrender my 
arms I meekly handed up this handle, scarcely 
knowing what I was doing. One of the Yankees 
said, '-I don't want that, I want your arms." My 
arms consisted of a sabre, a short cavalry gun and 
another pistol, that remained in its holder. 

With some assistance I unbuckled my belt and 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 63 

gave up my arms. The colonel asked me if I was 
hurt, and some other questions which I cannot now 
recall. 

His own horse had been down on its knees, which 
were badly skinned. He dismounted and mounted 
another horse that had been brought to him, and 
told me I could have the use of his horse. I mount- 
ed with some difficulty, and was taken to the rear. 
There was very little firing; only one man was 
killed and one horse on our side. 

My horse, they afterward told me, passed 
through the command and did not stop until she 
got to Paris, four miles beyond. 

The Yankees remained only a short time, when 
they began their retreat down the pike with one 
lone prisoner, myself. On the way they picked up 
three or four citizens, which gave me some com- 
pany. 

It was quite dark when we reached Middleburg, 
and the command halted in the town for an hour, 
during which time I sat on my horse just in front of 
the house now occupied by Edwin LeRoy Broun. 

I could see the lights in the windows and See the 
family moving about, among them my sister. I 
made no effort to make myself known. After an 



64 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

hour's wait the command moved down the pike to- 
ward ^^^ashington, arriving at Fairfax Courthouse 
about midnight, where they went into camp. The 
next morning some 15 or 20 prisoners were brought 
in and put in an old log schoolhouse. We remain- 
ed there all that day, and the next day the citizens 
were released, and the soldier prisoners (about a 
dozen) w^ere started for Washington under a guard 
of four cavalrymen. We were taken to the old 
capitol at Washington and put in one of the rooms. 
I suppose there were several hundred prisoners 
there at the time. We remained about a month, 
when we were exchanged. We were taken to Rich- 
mond by boat and turned over to the authorities 
there, and our Government released a similar num- 
ber of Union prisoners w^ho returned on the same 
boat that brought us to Richmond. I took the train 
at Richmond, rode to Gordonsville, and footed it 
from there home, a distance of about 150 miles. 

I found my horse awaiting me, and after a few 
days rest, I mounted and rejoined my command at 
the little town of Paris, Fauquier county, where I 
had left them for a visit to Washington as a guest 
of the United States Government. 

As the winter came on the Confederates drew in 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 65 

their outposts, and likewise the enemy. This left 

the whole eastern part of Virginia free from the 
depredations of either army, except now and then 

a raid from one side on the other. 

My regiment was at camp in the woods near 
Harrisonburg, while Jackson's main army was 
with Lee, south of Fredericksburg. Jackson spent 
much time during the winter in religious work 
among his soldiers. ''My ambition," he said, ''is 
to command a converted army." He himself was 
one of the most devout men in the army, and seemed 
to be always in communion with his God. 

The winter was a hard one, and both armies kept 
pretty well within their winter quarters. 

We had no tents, but took fence rails, and putting 
one end on a pole fastened to two trees, and the 
other on the ground, and covering the rails with 
leaves and fastenening up each end, leaving the 
front open, then building a big fire just in front, we 
had a very comfortable place to sleep. We sat on 
logs around the fire during the day and far into the 
night telling stories and entertaining ourselves in 
various ways. At night we crept under the roof of 
our shed, which was about a foot deep in leaves, 



66 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

and slept as comfortably as any farmer's hogs 
would do under similar circumstances. 

About the first of January my company was 
again detached from the regiment and sent to Ork- 
ney Springs, just at the foot of North mountain, 
west of Strasburg. 

Our duty was to keep a dozen men on the op- 
posite side of the mountain scouting and doing 
picket duty. It was our custom to relieve the men 
once a week by sending over another detachment 
and relieving those on duty. 

While at Orkney Springs we occupied cottages 
that were intended for the summer guests prior to 
the breaking out of hostilities. But after remain- 
ing in the cottages some time, the health of the com- 
mand was so poor that wx were compelled to go 
back to the woods. In a short time the sickness 
disappeared from the camp, showing that the best 
place for a soldier is out in the open. 

Shortly after this word came that the enemy was 
advancing up the valley turnpike, and the whole 
regiment was ordered down to meet them, our com- 
pany in advance. 

It was March. The day was a stormy one. It 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 67 

snowed and rained alternately all day long, far 
into the night. 

When we left camp I was suffering with rheuma- 
tism in my hip, so that I had to use a stump to 
mount my horse, for I was determined to go with 
the regiment. Soldiers lying in camp idle soon get 
restless, and even cowards will hail w^ith delight 
a chance to have a brush with the enemy. 

So notwithstanding the weather and physical ail- 
ments of some of the men, all went out of camp that 
morning bright and happy. 

We marched all day until long after dark, and 
then discovered it was a false alarm. The Yankees 
were snug in their tents, many miles away. 

We went into camp in the w^oods. I remember 
that I was wet to the skin, and I can see myself now 
sitting on a log pulling off first one long-legged 
boot, then the other, and pouring the water out. 

But before this, fires had sprung up all over the 
woods. In spite of the fact that everything was 
drenched and water was dripping from every twig, 
in an incredibly short time the whole woods were 
brilliantly illuminated by burning camp-fires. 

We got out our bacon and crackers and enjoyed 
a supper that no habitue of a Delmonico could 



68 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

have relished more. The bacon (not sugar-cured) 
was stuck on a stick and roasted before the fire, 
while the grease was allowed to fail on the cracker 
on a chip below. 

The Delmonico man might boast of a higher 
grade of food and better cooking, but the soldier 
wins on the appetite. 

After supper we stood around the camp-fires 
drying the outside of our clothes, telling stories and 
smoking. Then we prepared for bed. 

The men in the companies are always divided 
into messes ; the average number of men in each was 
usually about six. The messes were like so many 
families that lived together, slept together and ate 
together, and stood by each other in all emergen- 
cies. There was no rule regulating the messes. 
The men simply came together by common con- 
sent. ''Birds of a feather flock together." 

In winter one bed was made for the whole mess. 
It consisted of laying down rubber cloths on the 
ground and covering them with a blanket, and an- 
other and another, as occasion required, and if the 
weather was foul, on top of that other rubber cloths. 
Our saddles covered with our coats were our pil- 
lows. The two end men had logs of wood to pro- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 69 

tect them. Only our coats and boots were removed. 

On a cold winter night, no millionaire on his bed 
of down ever slept sweeter than a soldier on a bed 
like this. 

In the summer each soldier had a separate bed. 
If it was raining, he made his bed on top of two 
fence rails, if he could not find a better place. If 
the weather was good, old Mother Earth was all 
the soldier wanted. 

As this was a cold, stormy night, of course we all 
bunked together. My, what a nice, soft, sweaty 
time we had! The next morning all traces of my 
rheumatism had disappeared, and I felt as spry as 
a young kitten. 

As the day advanced the clouds rolled by, the 
sun came out bright and smiling, and the com- 
mand marched back to the old camp-ground, near 
Harrisonburg. 

With every regiment there is a Company Q. 
Company Q is composed of lame ducks, cowards, 
shirkers, dead-beats, generally, and also a large 
sprinkling of good soldiers, who, for some reason 
or other, are not fit for duty. Sometimes this com- 
pany is quite large. It depends upon the weather, 
the closeness of the enemy, and the duties that are 



70 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

being exacted. Bad weather will drive in all rheu- 
matics ; the coming battle will drive in the cowards ; 
hard marching and picket duty will bring in the 
lazy. But then, as I have just said, there were 
some good soldiers among them — the slightly 
wounded or those suffering from any disability. 
Taking them altogether. Company Q resembled 
Mother Goose's beggars that came to town; "some 
in rags, some in tags, and some in velvet gowns." 
Company Q was always the butt of the joker. 

A short time after the regiment had returned 
from its fruitless march down the pike, the four 
regiments composing the brigade under Gen. Wil- 
liam E. Jones were ordered to break camp and 
move across the mountains into the enemy's country 
in West Virginia. 

At that time I was almost blind with inflamed 
eyes. They looked like two clots of blood. Of 
course, I did not go with the command, but was 
forced to join Company Q. As well as I remember, 
the company numbered at that time over loo men, 
among them two or three officers. 

As the regiment expected to be absent for over a 
month and to return crowned with laurels, Com- 
pany Q conceived the idea of doing something that 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 7 1 

would put them on an equal footing with their com- 
rades when they returned from this expedition. 

A company was formed of about 100 men, which 
were soon on the march down the valley pike. My 
eyes had so improved that I could join the company. 

The enemy was encamped near Winchester, per- 
haps 75 miles away. Our destination was this 
camp. We were to march down the valley, 
make a night attack and come back with all the 
plunder we could carry off or drive off. Every 
fellow expected to bring back at least one extra 
horse. 

We reached the west branch of the Shenandoah, 
near Strasburg, and went into camp for the night, 
having first put out pickets at the various fords up 
and down the river. 

The enemy's camp was supposed to be ten miles 
beyond. We intended to remain at this camp until 
the next evening about dusk, and then start for the 
enemy, timing ourselves to reach their camp about 
midnight. 

The next morning about 9 o'clock we came down 
from our camp into the open field to graze our 
horses. We had taken the bits out of their mouths 
and were lying around loose, while the horses crop- 



72 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ped the grass, when all at once someone shouted 
"Yankees." Sure enough, there they were, a 
whole regiment of Union cavalrymen. They had 
crossed the river some distance below our pickets 
and had placed themselves directly in our rear, 
cutting off our retreat. We soon had our horses 
bridled, and mounting, made for the river. The 
commander sent me down the river to call in the 
pickets, but I did not go far until I met them com- 
ing in. They had heard the firing. We had a des- 
perate race to join the fleeing company, but did so, 
narrowly escaping capture. 

There was a small body of woods on the banks of 
the river, where we found shelter for the moment. 
We were entirely cut off from the fords, and there 
was no way of crossing the river but to swim. The 
banks were steep on each side, so it looked as if that 
would be the last of poor Company Q. We dis- 
mounted, got behind the trees, and were ready to 
give our tormentors a warm reception, but Provi- 
dence seemed to smile on us. Someone discovered 
a little stream running into the river. We followed 
that down into the river, and the whole command 
swam across and climbed the banks on the other 
side, except one man (Milton Robinson) and my- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 73 

self. Our horses refused to swim. They behaved 
so ugly that we had to abandon them. Mine was 
the same '^jade" that had dumped me on the Yan- 
kees a few months before. Now I had a chance to 
reciprocate. I tied her to a little sapling at the edge 
of the river, and Robinson and I hid in the bushes 
close by the banks. The Yankees came down and 
took our horses, and after searching around for 
some time, vacated the premises, much to our grati- 
fication. 

The loss of our horses grieved us very much, but 
such is the life of a soldier. 

The company in crossing the river were in the 
enemy's country, and were liable to be surrounded 
and captured at any time, but they made their es- 
cape in some way, and lost no time in getting back 
to camp, many miles away. 

Robinson and I, of course, had to foot it, but in 
course of time we also landed in camp, much to the 
surprise of our comrades, who thought the enemy 
had us. Thus terminated ingloriously the well- 
planned expedition of Company Q. 

In about ten days the brigade came back from 
the West V'irginia expedition, and Company Q re- 
ceived the Sixth Regiment with open arms. Just 



74 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

what the expedition accomplished I am not able to 
sav, but there is one little incident connected with 
it that has lingered lovingly in my memory to this 
day. 

Every mess had in it a forager; that is, one skilled 
in the art of picking up delicacies. At least we 
called them such, as this term was applied to any- 
thing edible above hardtack and salt pork. We 
had such a one in our mess, and he was hard to beat. 
His name was Fauntleroy Neal. He was a close 
friend of mine. We called him Faunt. 

Whenever he went on an expedition he always 
came back loaded. As he was with the brigade in 
West Virginia, w^e knew that when he returned 
(if he did return) he would bring back something 
good, and he did. I cannot remember all the things 
he had strapped to his saddle, but one thing looms 
up before my mind now as big as a Baltimore sky- 
scraper. It was about half a bushel of genuine 
grain coffee, unroasted. There was also sugar to 
sweeten it. Grains of coffee in the South during 
the Civil War were as scarce as grains of gold, and 
when toasting time came and the lid was lifted to 
stir the coffee, it is said that the aroma from it 
spread through the trees and over the fields for 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 75 

many miles around. I forgot the long, weary 
march on foot back up the valley, forgot the 
loss of my horse, and really felt as if I had been 
fully compensated for any inconvenience that had 
come to me from the ill-starred tramp of Com- 
pany Q. 

But spring had fully come, the roads were dry, 
and the time for action was here. 

Hooker, at the head of 120,000 Northern sol- 
diers, was again crossing the Rappahannock, near 
Fredericksburg, to lock horns with Lee and Jack- 
son. 

Hooker had superseded Burnside in command 
of the Union army. They called him ''fighting 
Joe." 

Hooker handled his army the first two or three 
days with consummate skill, and at one stage of 
his maneuvers he felt confident that he had out- 
generaled Lee and Jackson. He believed they 
were in full retreat, and so informed the Washing- 
ton Government. But he was doomed to a terrible 
disappointment. What Hooker took to be a re- 
treat of the Confederates was simply a change of 
front, which was followed up by Jackson executing 
another one of his bold flank movements, the most 



76 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

brilliant of his brief career, the result of which was 
Hooker's defeat. The entire Union army was 
thrown into such confusion that it was compelled 
to retreat across the river, after sustaining heavy 
losses in killed and wounded. 

The New Standard Encyclopedia gives Hook- 
er's army as 130,000; Lee's, 60,000. Hooker's 
losses, 18,000; Lee's, 13,000. 

Perhaps no general on either side during the en- 
tire war felt more keenly his defeat than did Hook- 
er on this occasion. For awhile everything seemed 
to be going his way, when suddenly the tide turned, 
and he saw his vast army in a most critical situation, 
and apparently at the mercy of his opponent. 

History tells the whole story in better language 
than I can. It calls it the ''Battle of Chancellors- 
ville." 

Carl Schurz, one of the generals in Hooker's 
army, says that never did Gen. Lee's qualities as a 
soldier shine as brilliantly as they did in this battle. 
To quote his own language, "We had 120,000 men, 
Lee 60,000. Yet Lee handled his forces so skill- 
fully that whenever he attacked he did it with a 
superior force, and in this way he overwhelmed our 
army and compelled its retreat, after sufifering ter- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 77 

rible losses not only in dead and wounded, but in 
prisoners." 

But the Confederates also suffered a tremendous 
loss at Chancellorsville. Just at the moment when 
he was about to gather the fruit of his victory, 
which might have resulted in the surrender of 
Hooker's army, or the greater portion of it, Stone- 
wall Jackson was fired on by his own men, mortally 
wounded, and died a few days afterwards. 

The following account of the wounding of Jack- 
son, as related by an eye-witness, will be of interest 
to the reader: 

''It was 9 o'clock at night. There was a lull in 
the battle, and Jackson's line had become somewhat 
disorganized by the men gathering in groups and 
discussing their brilliant victory. Jackson, notic- 
ing the confusion, rode up and down the line, say- 
ing, "Men, get into line, get into line; I need your 
help for a time. This disorder must be corrected." 

He had just received information that a large 
body of fresh troops from the Union army was ad- 
vancing to retake an important position that it had 
lost. Jackson had gone 100 yards in front of his 
own line to get a better view of the enemy's posi- 
tion. The only light that he had to guide him was 



yS FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

that furnished by the moon. He was attended by 
half a dozen orderlies and several of his staff offi- 
cers, when he was suddenly surprised by a volley of 
musketry in his front. The bullets began whistling 
about them, and struck several horses. This w^as 
the advance guard of the Federal lines. Jackson, 
seeing the danger, turned and rode rapidly back 
toward his own line. As he approached, the Con- 
federate troops, mistaking them for the enemy's 
cavalry, stooped and delivered a deadly fire. So 
sudden was this volley, and so near at hand, that 
every horse which was not shot down recoiled from 
it in panic and turned to rush back,bearing his rider 
toward the approaching enemy. Several fell dead 
on the spot, and more wxre wounded, among them 
Gen. Jackson. His right hand was penetrated by 
a ball, his left was lacerated by another, and the 
same arm was broken a little below the shoulder 
by a third ball, which not only crushed the bone, 
but severed the main artery. His horse dashed, 
panic-stricken, toward the enemy, carrying him be- 
neath the boughs of the trees, which inflicted sev- 
eral blows, lacerated his face, and almost dragged 
him from the saddle. His bridle hand was now 
powerless, but seizing the rein with his right hand, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 79 

notwithstanding its wound, he arrested his horse 
and brought the animal back toward his own line. 
He was followed by his faithful attendants. The 
firing of the Confederates had now been arrested 
by some of the officers, who realized their mis- 
take, but the wounded and frantic horses were rush- 
ing without riders through the woods, where the 
ground was strewn with the dead and dying. Here 
Gen. Jackson drew up his horse and sat for an in- 
stant, gazing toward his own line, as if in astonish- 
ment at their cruel mistake, and in doubt whether 
he should again venture to approach them. He 
said to one of his staff, ''I believe my arm is broken," 
and requested him to assist him from his horse and 
examine whether the wounds were bleeding dan- 
gerously. Before he could dismount he sank faint- 
ing into their arms, so completely prostrated that 
they were compelled to disengage his feet from the 
stirrups. They carried him a few yards into the 
woods north of the turnpike to shield him from the 
expected advance of the Federalists. One was sent 
for an ambulance and a surgeon, while another 
stripped his mangled arm in order to bind up the 
wound. The warm blood was flowing in a stream 
down his wrist. His clothes impeded all access to 



8o FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

its source, and nothing was at hand more efficient 
than a penknife to remove the obstruction. 

Just at this moment Gen. Hill appeared upon the 
scene with a part of his stafT. They called upon 
him for assistance. One of his staff, Alaj. Leigh, 
succeeded in reaching thewound and staunching the 
blood with a handkerchief. It was at this moment 
that two Federal skirmishers approached within a 
few feet of the spot where he lay, w^ith their mus- 
kets cocked. They little knew what a prize was in 
their grasp. When, at the command of Gen. Hill, 
two orderlies arose from the kneeling group and 
demanded their surrender, they seemed amazed 
at their nearness to their enemy, and yielded their 
arms without resistance. 

Lieut. Morrison, suspecting from their approach 
that the Federalists must be near at hand, stepped 
out into the road to examine, and by the light of the 
moon he saw a cannon pointing toward them, ap- 
parently not more than loo yards distant. In- 
deed, it was so near that the orders given by the 
officers to the cannoneers could be distinctly heard. 
Returning hurriedly, he announced that the enemy 
were planting artillery in the road and that the 
general must be immediately removed. Gen. Hill 




THE LAST MEETING OF LEE AND JACKSON AT CHANCELLORSVILLE. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 8 1 

now remounted and hurried back to make arrange- 
ments to meet this attack. In the combat which en- 
sued, he himself was wounded a few moments after, 
and compelled to leave the field. No ambulance or 
litter was yet at hand, and the necessity for imme- 
diate removal suggested that they should bear the 
general away in their arms. To this he replied that 
if they would assist him to rise, he would walk to 
the rear. He was accordingly raised to his feet, 
and leaning upon the shoulders of two of his staff, 
he went slowly out of the highway, and toward his 
own troops. 

The party was now met by a litter, which some- 
one had sent from the rear, and the general was 
placed upon it and borne along by two of his offi- 
cers. Just then the enemy fired a volley of canister 
shot up the road, which passed over their heads, 
but they proceeded only a few steps before the 
charge was repeated w^ith more accurate aim. One 
of the officers bearing the litter was struck down, 
when Maj. Leigh, who was walking by their side, 
prevented the general from being precipitated to 
the ground. Just then the roadway was swept by 
a hurricane of projectiles of every species, before 
which it seemed no living thing could survive. The 



82 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

bearers of the litter and all the attendants except 
Maj. Leigh and the general's two aids left him and 
fled into the woods on either side to escape the fear- 
ful tempest, while the sufferer lay along the road 
with his feet toward the foe, exposed to all its fury. 
It was now that his three faithful attendants dis- 
played a heroic fidelity which deserves to go down 
with the immortal name of Jackson into future 
ages. 

Disdaining to save their lives by deserting their 
chief, they lay down beside him in the causeway 
and sought to protect him as far as possible with 
their bodies. On one side was Maj. Leigh, and on 
the other Lieut. Smith. Again and again was the 
earth around them torn with volleys of canister, 
while shells and minie balls flew hissing over 
them, and the stroke of the iron hail raised spark- 
ling flashes from the flinty gravel of the roadway. 
Gen. Jackson struggled violently to rise, as though 
to endeaver to leave the road, but Smith threw his 
arm over him and with friendly force held him to 
the earth, saying, ''Sir, you must lie still; it will 
cost you your life if you rise." He speedily ac- 
quiesced, and lay quiet, but none of the four hoped 
to escape alive. Yet, almost by miracle, they were 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 83 

unharmed, and after a few moments the Feder- 
alists, having cleared the road of all except this lit- 
tle party, ceased to fire along it, and directed their 
aim to another quarter. 

They now arose and resumed their retreat, the 
general walking and leaning upon two of his 
friends, proceeded along the gutter at the margin 
of the highway in order to avoid the troops, who 
were again hurrying to the front. Perceiving that 
he was recognized by some of them, they diverged 
still farther into the edge of the thicket. It was 
here that Gen. Pender of North Carolina, who had 
succeeded to the command of Hill's division upon 
the wounding of that officer, recognized Gen. Jack- 
son, and said, ''My men are thrown into such con- 
fusion by this fire that I fear I shall not be able to 
hold my ground." Almost fainting with anguish 
and loss of blood, he still replied, in a voice feeble 
but full of his old determination and authority, 
"Gen. Pender, you must keep your men together 
and hold your ground." This was the last military 
order ever given by Jackson. 

Gen. Jackson now complained of faintness, and 
was again placed upon the litter, and after some 
difficulty, men were obtained to bear him. To 



84 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

avoid the enemy's fire, which was again sweeping 
the road, they made their way through the tangled 
brushwood, almost tearing his clothing from him, 
and lacerating his face in their hurried progress. 
The foot of one of the men bearing his head was 
here tangled in a vine, and he fell prostrate. The 
general was thus thrown heavily to the ground 
upon his wounded side, inflicting painful bruises 
on his body and intolerable agony on his mangled 
arm, and renewing the flow of blood from it. As 
they lifted him up he uttered one piteous groan, 
the only complaint which escaped his lips during 
the whole scene. Lieut. Smith raised his head 
upon his bosom, almost fearing to see him expiring 
in his arms, and asked, '^General, are you much 
hurt?" He replied, ''No, Mr. Smith, don't trouble 
yourself about me." He was then replaced a sec- 
ond time upon the litter, and under a continuous 
shower of shells and cannon balls, borne a half 
mile farther to the rear, when an ambulance was 
found, containing his chief of artillery, Col. 
Crutchfield, who was also wounded. In this he was 
placed and hurried toward the field hospital, near 
Wilderness Run. From there he was taken to a 
farmhouse, his left arm amputated, and a few days 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 85 

afterward he died. His wife and little child were 
with him. Thus ended the life of one of the 
world's greatest warriors and one of Christ's great- 
est soldiers. 

The following ode to Stonewall Jackson was 
written by a Union officer (Miles O'Reiley), and 
is inserted here in preference to others that may 
have been quite as appropriate, because of the 
added beauty of sentiment it conveys from the fact 
that its author wore the blue: 

He sleeps all quietly and cold 
Beneath the soil that gave him birth; 

Then break his battle brand in twain, 
And lay it with him in the earth. 

No more at midnight shall he urge 
His toilsome march among the pines, 

Nor hear upon the morning air 
The war shout of his charging lines. 

No more for him shall cannon park 
Or tents gleam white upon the plain; 

And where his camp fires blazed of yore, 
Brown reapers laugh amid the grain ! 

No more above his narrow bed 
Shall sound the tread of marching feet, 

The rifle volley and the crash 
Of sabres when the foeman meet. 



86 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Young April o'er his lowly mound 
Shall shake the violets from her hair, 

And glorious June with fervid kiss 
Shall bid the roses blossom there. 

And white-winged peace o'er all the land 

Broods like a dove upon her nest, 
While iron War, with slaughter gorged, 

At length hath laid him down to rest. 

And where we won our onward way. 
With fire and steel through yonder wood. 

The blackbird whistles and the quail 
Gives answer to her timid brood. 

And oft when white-haired grandsires tell 

Of bloody struggles past and gone. 
The children at their knees will hear 

How Jackson led his columns on ! 

I have only referred incidentally to Jackson's 
Valley Campaign. It was short, but intensely 
dramatic. For bold maneuvering, rapid marching 
and brilliant strategy, I believe it has no parallel in 
history. As for results, without it Richmond doubt- 
less would have been in the hands of McClellan in 
the spring of 1862. 

Perhaps it is not extravagant to say that as the 
tidings reached the people all over the South that 
their idol was dead, more sorrow was expressed in 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 87 

tears than was ever known in the history of the 
world at the loss of any one man. 

As the Israelites saw Elijah depart they exclaim- 
ed, '^The chariots of Israel and the horsemen 
thereof!" 

The South felt that in the loss of Stonewall Jack- 
son they were parting with the '^better half" of 
their army. 

The North had the men, the money and the mu- 
nition of war, but the South had Lee and Stonewall 
Jackson. And in having them they felt that they 
were more than a match for the North. Now that 
Jackson was gone the question was. What will Gen. 
Lee do? 

To go back to the valley, I was indebted to my 
friend Faunt Neal for the loan of a horse, he being 
fortunate enough to have two. 

After the battle of Chancellorsville almost the 
entire force in the valley passed over the Blue 
Ridge and joined Lee's army on the Rappahan- 
nock. Of course, this included my command. 

Lee's army still occupied the south bank of the 
Rappahannock, near the late battlefield, while just 
opposite, on the north bank, was the Union army 
waiting to see what the next move would be. I be- 



88 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

lieve I have mentioned the fact that Gen. J. E. B. 
Stuart commanded Lee's entire cavalry force, about 
10,000 men with several batteries of artillery. 
This force was encamped higher up the river, in 
Culpeper county, in and around Brandy Station, 
and might be called the left wing of Lee's army, 
although separated from it by several miles. 

Just opposite Stuart's cavalry and on the north 
bank of the river was the entire cavalry force of 
the Union army, supported by a corps of infantry. 



Chapter VI. 

From Chancellorsville to Gettysburg 

■ "It was the wild midnight — 
The storm was on the sky; 
The Hghtning gave its light, 
And the thunder echoed by." 

After resting awhile and mourning the loss of 
our great soldier, Lee's army began to move. The 
question was (not only on our side of the river, but 
on the other), "What is Gen. Lee up to now?" 

The Northern commander determined to inves- 
tigate, and early in the morning of the ninth of 
June, 1863, a portion of the Union army began to 
cross the Rappahannock at every ford for miles, 
up and down the river. 

I was on picket at one of the fords, and was re- 
lieved at 3 o'clock in the morning, another soldier 
taking my place. 

I went up through the field into the woods 
where our reserves (some 20 men) were in camp. 
It was from this squadron that pickets were sent 
out and posted along the river. 

I hitched my horse, and wrapped in a blanket, 

89 



90 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

lay down to sleep. But 1 was soon rudely awak- 
ened by the watchman, who shouted that the enemy 
was crossing the river. We all jumped up and 
mounted our horses. Our captain was with us. 

The day was just breaking. The pickets were 
hurrying up from the river in every direction, fir- 
ing their pistols to give the alarm. 

Our captain formed the men in the edge of 
the woods for the purpose of checking for a few 
minutes the advancing enemy, so as to give the 
10,000 cavalrymen that were encamped a mile or 
so in the rear time to saddle and mount their horses 
and prepare for battle. 

The enemy came pouring up from the river, and 
we opened fire on them, checking them for the mo- 
ment. Two of our men were killed, several wound- 
ed, and two horses killed. 

Two couriers had gone ahead to arouse the camp. 
We soon followed them along the road through the 
woods, the enemy hard on our heels. 

I was riding with the captain in the rear. We 
were not aware that the Yankees were so close to 
us, and the captain was calling to the men to check 
their speed. I looked behind, called to the captain 
and told him they were right on us, and just as I 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 9 1 

spoke two bullets went hissing by my head. The 
captain yelled to his men to move forward, and 
bending low on the necks of our horses, we gave 
them the spur. 

As we came out of the woods into the fields we 
met the Sixth Virginia (my regiment), under Col. 
Flournoy, coming down the road at full gallop. 
Just on his left, and almost on a line with the Sixth, 
was the Seventh Regiment coming across the fields 
(for there were no fences then). These two regi- 
ments entered the woods, one on the right and one 
on the left, and stretching out on either side, poured 
a volley into the advancing enemy that caused them 
to halt for awhile. 

The roar of the guns in the woods at that early 
hour in the morning was terrific. What was going 
on in front of us was being enacted up and down 
the river for at least three miles. 

Our forces then fell back into the open country, 
and the battle continued, at intervals, all day long. 

The Yankees were supported by infantry, while 
we had nothing but cavalry and artillery. 

Our enemies could have driven us back farther 
if they had tried to, but they seemed to be afraid of 
getting into trouble. I do not know what our com- 



92 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

mander, Gen. Stuart, knew, but I did not suppose 
that Gen. Lee was within 30 miles of us. To- 
ward sunset I saw him come riding across the fields 
on his gray horse, ''Traveler," accompanied by his 
staff. He seemed as calm and unconcerned as if he 
were inspecting the land with the view of a pur- 
chase. 

Whether it was the presence of Gen. Lee himself, 
or the fear that he had his army with him, I know 
not, but simultaneously with the appearance of 
Gen. Lee the enemy began to move back and re- 
cross the river. We did not press them, but gave 
them their own time. 

We re-established our picket line along the river, 
and everything was quiet for a day or two. 

We went down the next day to the spot where the 
first fight took place, and found our two men lying 
dead by the side of a tree, and several dead horses. 
The enemy had removed their dead (if they had 
any). It was too dark when we were fighting for 
us to see whether we did any execution or not at this 
particular point. We buried our two men where 
they fell and went back to camp. Total losses as 
reported by each side — Confederate, 485; Federal, 
907. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 93 

The next day we were quietly resting in the 
woods, watching the infantry as they tramped by all 
day long, moving in a northeasterly direction. The 
question was asked 10,000 times perhaps that day, 
"What is Marse Robert up to now? Where is he 
taking us?" (Gen. Lee was called Marse Robert 

by his soldiers.) 

In the afternoon we noticed a long string of 
wagons of a peculiar construction, each drawn by 
six horses, and loaded with something covered with 
white canvas. Of course, we were all curious to 
know what these wagons contained. The secret 
soon leaked out. They were pontoon bridges. And 
then we began to speculate as to what rivers we 
were to cross. Some said we were destined for the 
Ohio, others for the Potomac. 

Just before sunset the bugle sounded "saddle up," 
and soon Stuart's cavalry was in the saddle and on 

the march. 

Everything was trending one way, namely, north- 
east. 

The infantry went into camp at night, but the 
cavalry marched through most of the night, cross- 
ing the Rappahannock several miles above where 
we had been fighting. 



94 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Lee's entire army was en route for Pennsylvania, 
as we afterward learned, the cavalry keeping in be- 
tween the two armies, protecting the wagon trains 
and concealing, as far as possible, our army's desti- 
nation.* 

The infantry, artillery and baggage train crossed 
the Blue Ridge at the various gaps, fording the 
Shenandoah river, and moved down the valley of 
Virginia toward the Potomac. 

Lee's cavalry kept on the east side of the moun- 
tain, holding the enemy back as much as possible. 

When we reached Fauquier and Loudoun coun- 
ties the Union cavalry made a desperate effort to 
drive in our cavalry and discover the route of our 
main army. 

*The two armies, occupying opposite banks of the river near 
Fredericksburg, began their march for Gettysburg June the 3rd, 
1863, moving northeast along the Rappahannock river, the cavalry 
of each army marching between. When Lee reached the Blue Ridge 
he crossed it at three different places, Chester Gap, Ashby's and 
Snickersville Gaps. The two cavalry forces came together and fought 
quite a severe battle, beginning at Aldie, below Middleburg, and ex- 
tending to Paris, at the foot of the mountain. Directly after this 
battle Stuart took the main part of his cavalry, moved back as far 
as Salem, or Delaplane, as it is now called, moved across the coun- 
try in rear of the Federal army, passing Manassas and Centerville, 
then marched direct for the Potomac, which he crossed between 
Leesburg and Washington. Then through Maryland into Pennsyl- 
vania as far as Carlisle, and there he turned south, arriving at 
Gettysburg on the night after the second day of the battle, thus 
completely encircling the Union army. (See map). 

On its march down the Virginia valley to the Potomac Lee's 
army took 4000 prisoners, 25 cannon, 250 wagons, 400 horses, 269 
small arms and quantities of stores. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 95 

Heavy fighting began at Aldie, below Middle- 
burg, and was continued up the pike through the 
town of Middleburg up as far as Upperville, where 
I had been captured the year before. 

The enemy's cavalry was supported by infantry, 
and our forces fell back fighting foot by foot until 
they reached Upperville, where we met a division 
of infantry that Gen. Lee had sent to help us beat 
back the enemy. The Confederates who were 
killed in this action are buried in Middleburg and 
Upperville, in the cemeteries just outside of the two 
towns, and the ladies of these villages and the coun- 
try round about were kept busy caring for the 
wounded. 

I escaped some of the heaviest of this fighting by 
being detailed to guard the prisoners back to Win- 
chester. 

The night before the battle I was sent out along 
the road at the foot of the mountain to discover 
whether the enemy was approaching from that 
direction or not. After a lonely ride of several 
hours I came back and had a time finding Gen. 
Stuart, to whom I was instructed to report. I found 
him asleep on the porch of the home of Caleb Rec- 
tor. I aroused him and delivered my message. 



g6 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

His reply was, ''All right." I looked up my own 
command, and lay down for the remainder of the 
night. 

Lee's army crossed the river at Williamsport, 
Md., on the pontoon bridge.* The Northern army 
crossed between Harper's Ferry and Washington, 
and our cavalry, strange to say, went below the 
Union army and crossed the river near Washington, 
thus circling the Union army and arriving at Get- 
tysburg the last day of the battle. Stuart captured 
and destroyed many wagons and much property on 
this expedition. 

My brigade of cavalry did not follow Stuart, but 
followed the main army, bringing up the rear. 

After crossing the river, Lee led his main army 
straight for Chambersburg, Pa. I cannot describe 
the feeling of the Southern soldiers as they crossed 
the line separating Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
and trod for the first time the sacred soil of the 
North. Many of our soldiers had been on Mary- 
land soil before this, and although Maryland was 

*Tlie map only shows one point where Lee crossed into Maryland, 
but the army divided before reaching the Potomac, one part crossing 
at Williamsport, and the other at Shepherdstown, and, uniting at 
Hagerstown, moved on toward Chambersburg. From this point, 
Lee sent a portion of Ewell's division as far north as Carlisle, while 
another portion marched to York, then to Wrightsville, on the 
Susquehanna river, all returning in time to meet the Union army at 
Gettysburg. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 97 

not a part of the Confederacy, we felt that she 
was one of us, and while marching over her 
roads and fields we were still in our own domain, 
but not so when we crossed into Pennsylvania. We 
were then in the enemy's territory, and it gave us in- 
expressible joy to think that we were strong enough 
and bold enough to go so far from home and attack 
our enemy upon his own soil. The joy of our sol- 
diers knew no bounds. We were as light-hearted 
and as gay as children on a picnic, and we had no 
fear as to result of the move. 

Marching along the pike one day, the cavalry 
halted, and just on our left there was a modest home 
of a farmer. The garden was fenced, and came out 
and bordered on the road. His raspberries were 
ripe, and our soldiers sat on their horses, and 
leaning over were picking the berries from the 
vines. One soldier was bold enough to dis- 
mount and get over into the garden. We saw the 
family watching us from the window. The impu- 
dence on the part of this soldier was a little too 
much for the farmer. He came out with an old- 
fashioned shotgun and berated us in a manner most 
vehement, but did not shoot. This stirred the risi- 
bles of our soldiers to such an extent that the whole 
command broke out with loud laughter and hurrah 



98 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

for the brave farmer, who single-handed, and with 
a single-barrel shotgun, was defying the whole 
rebel horde. If the entire command had leveled 
its guns at him I think he would have stood his 
ground, but he could not stand our ridicule, so he 
went back into his house, and all was quiet again. 
Presently the command moved off, leaving what 
berries they did not have time to pick. From Cham- 
bersburg, Lee turned his columns southward and 
moved toward Gettysburg to meet the Union army 
that was advancing in the opposite direction. The 
armies met, and the whole world knows the result. 

The battle lasted three days. The first two days 
were decidedly in favor of the Confederates. My 
command took an active part in the battle, and the 
adjutant of my regiment was killed, also several in 
my company, and some were badly wounded andhad 
to be left. I was struck with a ball on the shoulder, 
marking my coat, and had a bullet hole through the 
rim of my hat; but as the latter was caused by my 
own careless handling of my pistol, I can't count it 
as a trophy. 

As the years go by the students of history are 
more and more amazed at the boldness of Gen. Lee 
in placing his army of 75,000, some say 65,000, at 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 99 

Gettysburg,* when he knew that between him and 
the capital of the Confederacy (which his army 
was intended to protect) was the capital of the 
United States protected by an army of not less than 
200,000 soldiers, and I might add by the best- 
equipped army in the world, for the United States 
Government had the markets of the world to draw 

supplies from. 

In the morning of the third day of the battle of 
Gettysburg there had been a terrible artillery duel 
that made the earth tremble for miles around, and 

was heard far and wide. 

When the guns got too hot for safety the firing 
ceased, the noise died away and the soldiers lay 

down to rest. 

During this interval Gen. Lee called his generals 
together for counsel. They discussed the situation 
for some time, which had grown serious. Lee's 
losses had been heavy in killed and wounded, and 
his stock of ammunition was growing low. 

After considerable discussion Lee mounted his 



♦General Longstreet, in his book ''Prom Manassas to Appo- 
mattox," says the Confederate forces that crossed the Potomac were 
7c; s68, and fixes the total of the Union army at 100,000, m round 
figures. General Meade's monthly returns for June 30, shows 
99,131 present for duty and equipped at Gettysburg. 



> » 

> > > 



lOO FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

gray horse, rode off a few paces to a slight elevation, 
and lifting his field glass to his eyes looked intently 
at the long lines of blue that stretched along the 
slopes, in the hope of finding some weak point 
which he might attack. Then returning to his offi- 
cers he said in a firm voice: ^'We will attack the 
enemy's center, cut through, roll back their wings 
on either side and crush or rout their army." Then 
he said: ^'Gen. Pickett will lead the attack." 

Pickett was a handsome young Virginian, a 
splendid rider, a brave commander, and one of the 
most picturesque figures in the Confederate army. 
Bowing his head in submission, he mounted his 
horse, and tossing back his long auburn locks, rode 
off and disappeared among the trees. The other 
officers soon joined their several commands, and 
Gen. Lee was left alone with his staff. 

There was ominous silence everywhere; even the 
winds had gone away, and the banners hung limp 
on their staffs. The birds had all left the trees, the 
cattle had left the fields, and the small squadrons of 
cavalry that had been scouting between the two 
armies retired and took position on either flank. 
Yonder in front, stretching along the slopes, lay the 
blue lines of the enemy, like a huge monster asleep. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. Id 

while behind were the hilltops, all frowning with 
wide-mouthed cannon loaded to the lips. 

Soon long lines of gray came stealing out of the 
woods like waves out of the sea. Long lines of gray 
moved over the fields like waves over the sea. These 
were Pickett's men ; and Pickett, handsome Pickett, 
was at their head riding in silence. 

The polished steel of the guns, as the lines rose 
and fell over the uneven ground, caught the rays of 
the bright July sun, developing a picture of daz- 
zling splendor. 

I wonder what was passing through the minds of 
those boys (their average age perhaps not much 
over twenty) as they moved step by step toward 
those bristling lines of steel in their front? 

They were thinking of home. Far over the hills, 
^'Way down south in Dixie." 

Step by step came the gray, nearer and nearer, 
when suddenly there was a sound that shook the 
hills and made every heart quake. It was the signal 

gun. 

Simultaneously with the sound came a cannon 
ball hissing through the air, and passing over the 
heads of the advancing columns, struck the ground 
beyond. 



102 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Then suddenly the whole slope was wreathed in 
smoke and flame, accompanied with a noise like the 
roar of a thousand cataracts. 

Was it a huge volcanic eruption? No. The 
Blue and the Gray had met. The smoke rose higher 
and higher, and spread wider and wider, hiding the 
sun, and then gently dropping back, hid from 
human eyes the dreadful tragedy. 

But the battle went on and on, and the roar of the 
guns continued. After a while, when the sun was 
sinking to rest, there was a hush. The noise died 
away. The winds came creeping back from the 
west, and gently lifting the coverlet of smoke, 
revealed a strange sight. 

The fields were all carpeted, a beautiful carpet, a 
costly carpet, more costly than axminster or velvet. 
The figures were horses and men all matted and 
woven together with skeins of scarlet thread. 

The battle is over and Gettysburg has passed into 
history. 

The moon and the stars come out, and the sur- 
geons with their attendants appear with their knives 
and saws, and when morning came there were stacks 
of legs and arms standing in the fields like shocks of 
corn. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 03 

The two armies confronted each other all day 
long, but not a shot was fired. Up to noon that day, 
I think I can safely say there was not a man in 
either army, from the commanders-in-chief to the 
humblest private in the ranks, that knew how the 
battle had gone save one, and that one was Gen. 
Robert E. Lee. 

About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, while the cav- 
alrymen were grazing their horses in the rear of the 
infantry, a low, rumbling sound was heard resem- 
bling distant thunder, except that it was continuous. 
A private (one of my company) standing near me 
stood up and pointing toward the battlefield said, 
''Look at that, will you?" A number of us rose to 
our feet and saw a long line of wagons with their 
white covers moving toward us along the road lead- 
ing to Chambersburg. 

Then he used this strange expression: ''That 
looks like a mice." A slang phrase often used at 
that time. He meant nothing more nor less than 
this: "We are beaten and our army is retreating." 

The wagons going back over the same road that 
had brought us to Gettysburg told the story, and 
soon the whole army knew the fact. This is the 
first time Lee's army had ever met defeat. 



I04 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

It is said that the loss of the two armies was about 
50,000. This probably included the prisoners; but 
there were not many prisoners taken on either side. 
The major portion of the losses were in killed and 
wounded. 

The badly wounded were left on the field to be 
cared for by the enemy. Those who could walk, and 
those who were able to ride and could find places 
in the wagons, followed the retreating army. 

The wagon train was miles and miles long. It did 
not follow the road to Chambersburg very far, but 
turned ofif and took a shorter cut through a moun- 
tainous district toward the point where the army 
had crossed the river into Maryland. This wagon 
train was guarded by a large body of cavalry, in- 
cluding my command. 

Just as the sun was going down, dark ominous 
clouds came trooping up from the west with thun- 
der and lightning, and it was not long before the 
whole heavens were covered and rain was falling in 
torrents. 

I am not familiar with the topography of the 
country through which we retreated, but all night 
long we seemed to be in a narrow road, with steep 
hills or mountains on either side. We had with us 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 105 

a good many cattle with which to feed the army. 
These got loose in the mountains and hills covered 
with timber, and between their constant bellowing 
and the flashes of lightning and crashing thunderthe 
night was hideous in the extreme. Wagons were 
breaking down, others getting stalled, and, to make 
matters worse, about midnight we were attacked by 
the Union cavalry. 

This mountainous road came out on a wide turn- 
pike, and just at this point Kilpatrick (command- 
ing the Union cavalry) had cut our wagon train in 
two and planted a battery of artillery with the guns 
pointing toward the point from which we were 
advancing. 

The cavalry which was stretched along the 
wagon train was ordered to the front. It was with 
great difficulty that we could get past the wagons 
in the darkness, and hence our progress was slow, 
but we finally worked our way up to the front and 
were dismounted and formed in line as best we 
could on either side of the road among the rocks 
and trees and then moved forward in an effort to 
"drive the battery away from its position so we could 
resume our march. The only light we had to guide 
us was from the lightning in the heavens and the 



106 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

vivid flashes that came from the enemy's cannon. 
Their firing did not do much execution, as they 
failed to get a proper range. Besides, we were so 
close to them they were firing over our heads, but 
the booming of the guns that hour of night, with the 
roar of the thunder, was terrifying indeed, and be- 
yond description. We would wait for a lightning 
flash and advance a few steps and halt, and then for 
a light from the batteries and again advance. 

In the meantime day was breaking, and the light 
from the sun was coming in, and at this point our 
enemy disappeared and the march was resumed. 
We were afraid that the wagons that had already 
passed out on the open turnpike had been captured. 
There were about 200 of them, but such was not the 
case. 

With these wagons was our brigadier com- 
mander. Gen. Wm. E. Jones, and two regiments of 
cavalry. They got so mixed up with the enemy's 
cavalry that night that it was almost impossible to 
distinguish friend from foe. Our general was a 
unique character, and many are the jokes that are 
told on him. While this fighting was going on 
those about him would address him as general. He 
rebuked them for this and said, ^'Call me Bill." 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 07 

The explanation was that the enemy was so close 
to them (in fact, mixed up with them) that they 
did not want him to know that there was a general 
in the crowd. 

Two days afterwards we got hold of one of the 
county papers, which, in giving the account of this 
attack, stated that the rebel, Gen. Wm. E. Jones, 
was captured. Perhaps but for the shrewdness of 
Gen. Wm. E. Jones in having his men call him 
"Bill" instead of ''General," it might have been 
true. The firing among the horses attached to the 
wagons that had gone out on the open pike fright- 
ened them to such an extent that they were stam- 
peded, and we saw the next morning as we rode 
along that some of the wagons had tumbled over 
the precipice on the right, carrying with them the 
horses; also the wounded soldiers that were riding 
in the wagons. 

The retreat was continued all the next day, the 
enemy's cavalry attacking us whenever they could, 
but without efifect. 

When we reached the river we found that our 
pontoon bridge had been partly swept away by the 
flood caused by the storm I have just spoken of. 
There was nothing to do but make a stand until the 



Io8 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

bridge could be repaired, or until the river should 
fall sufficiently to allow us to ford it. 

My recollection is that we remained on that side 
of the river about a week. In the meantime the 
whole Northern army gathered in our front and 
threatened us with destruction, but they seemed to 
be about as afraid of us as w^e were of them; for 
instead of attacking us, they began to throw up 
breastworks in their front to protect themselves 
from attack. This greatly encouraged us, and even 
the privates in the ranks were heard to remark, 
''We're in no danger, they're afraid of us; look at 
their breastworks." 

By the time the bridge was restored the river had 
fallen sufficiently to allow the cavalry to ford it. 
The army leisurely crossed, the infantry, artillery 
and wagons crossing on the bridge, while the cav- 
alry waded through the water. The passage was 
made at night. 

Gen. Meade, who commanded the Northern 
army, was very much censured for not attacking 
Lee while he was on the north side of the river. 
The Government at Washington seemed to think it 
would have resulted in the surrender of his army; 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 109 

but we in the ranks on the Confederate side had no 
fear of such a disaster. 

It is true, we were short of ammunition, but the 
infantry had the bayonet and the cavalry the sabre, 
and we felt satisfied that we were not in much 
danger. 

I neglected to say that as we marched through the 
towns of Pennsylvania it was distressing to see the 
sad faces of the populace as they gathered at their 
front doors and windows watching us as we moved 
through their streets. It resembled a funeral, at 
which all the people were mourners. 

It was so different when we were marching 
through the cities and towns of the South. There 
we were greeted by the people with waving flags 
and smiling faces. Another thing we noticed which 
was quite different from what we witnessed in our 
own land was a great number of young men be- 
tween the ages of 18 and 45 in citizen's clothes. 
This had a rather depressing effect upon us, because 
it showed us that the North had reserves to draw 
from, while our men, within the age limit, were all 
in the army. 

It is said that misfortunes never come singly. 

No sooner had we reached the south bank of the 



no FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Potomac than we heard the distressing news that 
Vicksburg had fallen. This opened the Mississippi 
river to Farragut's fleet of warships stationed at the 
mouth of that river, and cut the Confederacy in 

two. 

Then disaster followed disaster in that part of the 
field ; but as I said in the beginning, I am not writ- 
ing a history of the war, and hence will not attempt 
to follow the movements of the Western armies. 

The question is often asked, *'Why did Gen. Lee 
take his army into Pennsylvania?" That question 
is easily answered. 

For the same reason that the children of Israel 
went down into Egypt. There was a famine in the 
land, and they went there for corn. Food was 
growing scarcer and scarcer in the South, and it 
became a serious question not only as to how the 
army was to be fed, but also the citizens at home, 
the old men, women and children. 

No supplies could be brought from beyond the 
Mississippi. Tennessee and Kentucky were in the 
hands of the enemy, a great portion of Virginia; in 
fact, the richest farming sections were ravished 
first by one army, then by the other, making it im- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. Ill 

possible for the farmers to put in their grain or reap 
their harvests. 

The other States of the South grew mostly cot- 
ton and tobacco. All the Southern ports were 
closel}^ blockaded; hence the problem of sustaining 
human life was growing more serious every day. 

If Gen. Lee had been successful at the battle of 
Gettysburg his army would have remained north of 
the Potomac until late in the fall, and would have 
subsisted upon the country surrounding his camps. 
At the same time, the farmers on the eastern side 
of the Blue Ridge and in the rich valley of Virginia 
could have planted and reaped an abundant har- 
vest, which would have sufficed to have taken care 
of man and beast during the long winter months; 
but Providence ruled otherwise, and Lee was com- 
pelled to move his army back and provide for it as 
best he could. 

Another question has been as often asked. 
'Why was Lee not successful at Gettysburg?" 
Gen. Lee seemed to have anticipated this question, 
and answered it in language almost divine when he 
said, ''It was all my fault." He hoped this would 
have quieted criticism, but it did not, and for forty- 



112 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

odd years critics have been trying to fix the blame 
on someone. 

Of course, I cannot solve the problem, but I 
would suggest this: Gen. Lee could not take the 
risk at Gettysburg that he took when he fought his 
other battles. He was too far from his base of sup- 
plies. If he had been defeated at Seven Pines, 
Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, 
he would have had the defences of Richmond to 
fall back upon. But not so at Gettysburg. If he 
should be defeated there he must retain an army 
strong enough to cut through the lines of the enemy, 
in order to reach his base of supplies. 

After three days' fighting at Gettysburg he had 
gone as far as he dared go toward the depletion of 
his men and supplies; hence he ordered a retreat, 
knowing that he was still strong enough to handle 
the enemy and reach the south bank of the Potomac. 

Some say it was because Jackson was not there; 
but the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and 
Cold Harbor, where Grant was in command of the 
Northern army, demonstrated that Lee could win 
victories without Jackson. Perhaps what contrib- 
uted most to Lee's defeat at Gettysburg was the 




GEN. ROBERT E. LEE. 
This picture was talceu at the rear of General Lee's house on Franklin 
street, Richmond, in April. 1865. immediately after his return from Appo- 
mattox, and represents him in the style of uniform which he hahitually 
wore in the army. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 113 

absence of the cavalry just at a time when he needed 
it most. Had Stuart kept the cavalry between the 
two armies, and informed Lee as to the movements 
of the enemy, he would not have been placed in such 
a disadvantageous position as he was at Gettysburg. 
Then again, the enemy had vastly superior numbers. 
Whatever may have been the cause of his defeat, 
Gen. Lee, with the magnanimity characteristic of 
him, said: "It was all my fault." 



Chapter VII. 

From Gettysburg to the Wilderness. 

"But who shall break the guards that wait 

Before the awful face of Fate? 
The tattered standards of the South 
Were shrivelled at the cannon's mouth, 

And all her hopes were desolate." 

The main army marched slowly back up the val- 
ley, crossing at the various gaps east of Winchester, 
and occupied a position on the south bank of the 
Rapidan, a branch of the Rappahannock. 

The cavalry under Stuart took the east side of the 
Blue Ridge and marched in a parallel line with the 
infantry. This took me by my old home. I could 
stop only for a few minutes. I remember that I 
was upbraided for my appearance and was com- 
pared to the 'Trodigal Son." But when I told 
them what I had passed through, they were ready 
to kill the fatted calf. I had, though, no time for 
this, as my regiment was on the march. Besides, 
I knew there was no calf. 

The enemy kept at a safe distance, and did not 
molest us. We halted at Brandy Station, where we 

114 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. I15 

had fought the battle of June 9th, a month before. 
They halted at the Rappahannock and occupied 
both sides of the river. 

The land for miles and miles around Brandy 
Station was almost level and entirely denuded of 
fences, the soldiers having used them for firewood. 
It was an ideal battlefield. 

Here was the home of John Minor Botts, a dis- 
tinguished Virginian, respected and protected by 
the Northern army for his Union sentiments, and 
by the South for his integrity. He had a beautiful 
home and a fine, large estate, a choice herd of milch 
cows, and I have often gone there at milking time 
and got my canteen filled with milk just from the 
cow. 

The price we paid was 25 cents a quart, in Con- 
federate money. We thought it very cheap for 
such good, rich milk, and all of us had a good word 
to say for Mr. Botts and his family, even if they 
were Unionists. 

Gen. Stuart threw out his pickets across the 
fields, and just in front of us the enemy did likewise. 
The pickets were in full view of each other, and a 
long-range musket might have sent a bullet across 
the line at any time, but we did not molest each 



Il6 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Other. At night the lines came still closer together, 
and we could distinctly hear them relieving their 
pickets every two hours, and they doubtless could 
hear us doing the same. 

This state of things remained for several weeks. 
Not a shot was fired during all that time, and so 
well acquainted did the pickets of each army be- 
come, that it was not an uncommon thing to see 
them marching across the fields to meet each other 
and exchange greetings, and often the Confederates 
traded tobacco for coffee and sugar. I took quite 
an interest in this bartering and trading. This got 
to be so common that Gen. Stuart had to issue an 
order forbidding it. 

After a while conditions changed. Gen. Lee 
had sent Longstreet's corps to Tennessee to rein- 
force Bragg, weakening his army to the extent of 
20,000 men. Probably for this reason the enemy 
determined to make a demonstration, and began a 
movement toward our front. But so considerate 
were they that they did not open fire on us until we 
had gotten beyond range of their guns. This fra- 
ternal condition perhaps never existed before be- 
tween two contending armies. 

As they advanced we gradually fell back, and 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. II7 

when we had retreated about a mile, they began 
firing on us. The friendly sentiment was soon dis- 
sipated, we returned the fire, and began to dis- 
pute their passage. But as they had a much larger 
force we gradually released the territory, fighting 
as we retreated. 

My part of the line carried me directly through 
the streets of Culpeper, and the fighting in and 
around the town was the heaviest that we encount- 
ered. Several of our men had their horses killed, 
and I saw the enemy's cavalry pick the men up as 
they ran in their effort to escape. 

We continued to fall back until we reached the 
Rapidan. Here Gen. Lee was strongly entrenched, 
and the enemy, after remaining in our front for 
some days, fell back to their old position on the 
Rappahannock. There was one item of interest 
which I neglected to mention in its proper place, 
and that was an address which Gen. Lee issued to 
his soldiers after his long march back from Gettys- 
burg. It was printed on paper, about the size of a 
half sheet of note paper. It began with these 
words : "To the Soldiers of the Army of Northern 
Virginia:" ''Soldiers, we have sinned." I cannot 
remember any more of the address, but those words 



Il8 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

have lingered lovingly in my memory ever since. 
Each soldier was handed one of these papers, and I 
am ashamed to say I did not keep my copy, and do 
not know^ of anyone who did. 

Shortly after this demonstration of the Union 
army, Gen. Lee made an advance, but not directly 
in front. He moved his army toward the northeast, 
and his efforts seemed to have been to make a flank 
movement and get in the enemy's rear, just as had 
been done the year before when Jackson got in the 
rear of Pope at Manassas. The cavalry remained 
to watch the enemy's front, and prevent a move to- 
ward Richmond. 

After Lee had gotten well on his march the cav- 
alry crossed the river and began to drive in the 
enemy's outposts and press them back toward Cul- 
peper, and then on through Culpeper to Brandy 
Station, where the enemy made a stand. 

A short distance beyond the station was a slight 
elevation running across our front, completely hid- 
ing the movements of the enemy. As there was no 
elevation anywhere that we might occupy and see 
beyond the ridge in our front, all we could see was 
the large force occupying the crest of the ridge. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. II9 

We were afraid to charge, for fear of running into 
their whole army. 

After a good deal of maneuvering and waiting 
we saw the long lines of Union cavalry coming over 
the ridge and moving toward us in the line of battle. 
Closer and closer they came, and when they got 
within 200 yards of us, their leader ordered a 
charge, and it looked as if the whole column was 
coming right into our ranks. 

I have a vivid recollection of the scene. I no- 
ticed as they approached that quite a number of 
them, perhaps every third man, was reining in his 
horse, which meant, ''I have gone as far as I mean 
to go." Of course, what I saw my comrades saw, 
and we knew at once, by this action, they were 
whipped; but the others came on, dashing right 
into our ranks, firing as they came. The dust and 
smoke from the guns made it almost impossible to 
distinguish friend from foe, but I noticed close to 
me a large Union officer, riding a splendid horse, 
with his sabre over his head, calling his men to 
follow him. I had my sabre drawn, and I raised it 
over his head, but did not have the heart to hit 
him. Somehow or other, my arm would not obey 
me. It seemed too much like murder. 



120 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

But Lieut. Armistead (an officer in my com- 
pany) was not SO chicken-hearted, but spurred his 
horse, ''Long Tom," up until his pistol almost 
touched the officer, and shot him in the side. I 
saw him fall from his horse, and afterward at- 
tempt to get up. Then I lost sight of him. It was 
said to be Gen. Baker of the Union army, who was 
in command of the forces making the attack. We 
took some prisoners, others in the confusion, amid 
the dust and smoke, fled and escaped within their 
own lines. Then there was a halt for an hour or 
more. 

Several fresh regiments of our cavalry came up 
and took positions, ready for attack or defence, 
whichever it might be. 

What troubled our command was to know what 
was beyond that ridge. We were afraid to move 
forward, for fear of running into ambush. 

Presently we saw a magnificent sight. The col- 
onel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment, mounted 
on a beautiful black horse, moved forward, calling 
upon his regiment to follow him. It was Colonel, 
afterward General, Rosser. 

As the regiment moved toward the enemy's lines, 
at a gallop, the cry went up and down the ranks, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 121 

^^Look at Rosser, look at Rosser." Everybody ex- 
pected to see him tumble from his horse, shot to 
death. But he went forward, leading his men, and 
when the enemy discovered that we were coming in 
earnest, they turned on their heels and fled. Other 
regiments followed in rapid succession, and when 
we had gotten on top of the ridge we found that 
the enemy was disappearing in the distance as fast 
as their flying horses could carry them. We after- 
ward learned that their stand at Brandy Station 
was only intended to check our forces until theirs 
could get across the Rappahannock river, about 
three miles distant. 

After this fracas was over we began to look 
about us to see whether any of us showed marks of 
the strife. I found a bullet hole through the strap 
that held my sabre to my belt, and as the strap laid 
close to my side, it was allowed to pass as a '^close 
shave." But the greatest danger I was in, I think, 
was from the sabre of Gen. Baker. A right cut 
from that strong arm of his could have severed my 
head. 

There was one of our command who was shot in 
the neck, and an artery cut. The blood spurted 
out like water from a spigot. He dismounted and 



122 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Stood by his horse until, weakened by the loss of 
blood, he fell to the ground. He realized, as every- 
one else did, that he was beyond human aid. As 
Solomon put it in Ecclesiastes, ^'The golden bowl 
had been broken. '^ 

But to go back. Early in the day, when we were 
driving the enemy from our front, the cavalry dis- 
mounted and fought on foot. This was often done, 
as the men can do better execution when on the 
ground, and, besides, they are better protected from 
the fire of the enemy. On foot, you have to protect 
you the trees and the rocks and the fences, every lit- 
tle hillock; in fact, anything else that would stop a 
bullet, but on horseback you are a splendid target 
for the sharpshooter. Hence, the cavalry on some 
occasions preferred to be on foot. But when there 
was any retreating to do, like Richard HI, they 
wanted a horse. 

On this particular occasion I was among those 
chosen to lead the horses. In fact, it always fell to 
the fourth man. He sat on his horse, while the 
other three men dismounted and went to the front. 
These were called the led horses, and, of course, 
they followed in the rear, keeping as much out of 
danger as possible. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 23 

As we moved along through the fields we passed 
a small dwelling; I halted in front of the door and 
asked the good lady of the house for something to 
eat. She came out, trembling from head to foot, 
with two other ladies, who I presume were her 
daughters, and gave me some bread. 

Seeing the long string of led horses, she asked in 
the most distressed tone if all the men belonging 
to those horses had been killed. I explained the 
meaning of the horses being led, and assured her 
they were in no danger, as the enemy was retreating 
rapidly in our front, and all danger had passed. 

Just an hour before this the conditions were re- 
versed. I was on foot, and on the firing line, and 
another was leading my horse. 

We had taken shelter behind a low-railed fence, 
against which the Yankees, who had just left it, had 
thrown the earth as a protection. We were all ly- 
ing down close to the ground and firing over the top 
of this obstruction, when a shell came hissing across 
the field, striking the breastwork a short distance 
from where I lay, scattering the rails and dirt in 
every direction. I remarked that as lightning 
never struck twice in the same place, that was the 
safest spot to get, and I began to crawl toward it. 



124 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

I had hardly moved a yard when another shell 
struck in this very same spot, verifying the old 
adage, that ^'there are exceptions to all rules." 

We were ordered to move forward from this 
position across the open field, which we did, the 
bullets buzzing past our ears like so many bees. 
We went a few hundred yards and then lay down 
flat on the ground in the grass, and continued firing 
at the puffs of smoke in our front, as that was all 
we could see. The enemy was lying as flat to the 
ground as we were. A great deal of this kind of 
fighting is done in this way. It doesn't rise to the 
dignity of a battle, but is called skirmishing. 

One poor fellow lying next to me w^as struck by 
a bullet with a dull thud, that caused him to cry 
out in pain, and as we moved forward I saw him 
writhing in agony. I presume he was not mortally 
wounded, as mortal wounds do not cause much or 
any pain. 

In the meantime, our enemy crept away from our 
front, and mounting their horses, galloped off. We 
followed in hot pursuit. 

But to return to where we left our friends (the 
enemy crossing the Rappahannock). We did not 
pursue them beyond the river, but moved northeast, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 25 

crossing the river at the same place where we had 
crossed on the march to Gettysburg. It was about 
9 o'clock at night; beyond we could see all the hills 
brilliantly illuminated with camp-fires. It was a 
gorgeous spectacle. 

As we had driven the enemy across the river a 
few miles below, of course, we in the ranks, con- 
cluded that these were the camp-fires of the enemy, 
and that a night attack was to be made upon their 
camp. But we crossed, notwithstanding, and as we 
rode up to the blazing fires we discovered that we 
were right in the midst of Lee's infantry. 

We went into camp for the night. Early in the 
morning we were in the saddle, with both cavalry 
and infantry on the march. Marching parallel to 
us was the whole Union army. They were making 
for the defences of Washington, and we were trying 
to cut them off. 

When we got as far as Bristoe Station, not far 
from Manassas, Gen. Lee made a swoop down upon 
them and tried to bring them to battle, but they 
were too swift for us. We did, however, have quite 
a severe fight at Bristoe Station between the ad- 
vance guard of our army and the rear of the enemy. 

Gen. A. P. Hill, commanding one of Lee's corps. 



126 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

made the attack. It was very severe while it lasted, 
and the roar of the musketry was terrific. But the 
enemy got away. 

After it was over one of my company (Frank 
Peak) heard Gen. Lee severely reprimand Gen. 
A. P. Hill in these words: ''Gen. Hill, your line 
was too short and thin." I presume Gen. Lee 
thought if Gen. Hill had extended his line farther 
out, he might have captured the entire force in our 
front. 

In this battle Rev. A. W. Green (to whom I have 
already referred as being captured at Harper's 
Ferry by Jackson) had one of his fingers shot ofif. 
I have often joked him and said it was I who shot 
it off. Just as I am writing this Mr. Green, whom 
I have not seen for lo years, came into my ofiice, 
and I told him what I was doing. He held up his 
hand, minus one finger, and said, ''Yes, you did 
that.'' 

We followed the retreating enemy some distance 
below Manassas, but could not overtake them. We 
halted for awhile, and a few days afterward the 
whole army, cavalry, infantry and artillery, march- 
ed slowly back toward the Rapidan. 

The expedition was fruitless. The infantry, as 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 27 

is nearly always the case, marched with the wagon- 
trains, while the cavalry, in nearly every instance, 
leaves the wagons behind, depending upon what- 
ever can be picked up from the farmers or the 

enemy. 

In this particular section at this time, the farmers 
had no chance to plant crops. The trees had al- 
ready been stripped of fruit. We could not even 
find a persimmon, and we suffered terribly with 
hunger. Of course, there was plenty of grass for 
the horses, but the men were entirely destitute of 

provisions. 

We were looking forward to Manassas with 
vivid recollections of the rich haul that we had 
made there just prior to the second battle of Manas- 
sas, and everybody was saying, ''We'll get plenty 
when we get to Manassas." We were there be- 
fore we knew it. Everything was changed. There 
was not a building anywhere. The soil, enriched 
by the debris from former camps, had grown a rich 
crop of weeds that came half way up to the sides 
of our horses, and the only way we recognized the 
place was by our horses stumbling over the railroad 
tracks at the junction. It was a grievous disap- 
pointment to us. 



128 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

While fighting just below Manassas, the enemy- 
threw a shell in among the led horses, which burst 
and killed several of them. 

A short time after that, while lying in camp, our 
stomachs crying bitterly for food, someone suggest- 
ed we try horse flesh. I remember pulling out my 
knife and sharpening it on a stone preparatory to 
cutting a steak from one of the dead horses, but just 
at this point a caravan on horseback arrived with a 
supply of food. We had a rich feast, and were 
happy again. 

I do not know where the Union army halted in 
their retreat toward Washington, but in a day or 
two after this, Lee moved his entire army back to- 
ward its old camp on the Rapidan, as I have just 
said. 

I think this was early in November. We felt 
winter approaching, and I remember when wc 
reached the Rappahannock, although there was a 
bridge a mile below, the cavalry forded the stream, 
the men getting wet above their knees, as the water 
came well up to the sides of the horses. Gen. Lee, 
noticing that the men were wet from fording the 
river, said to our brigade commander (Gen. Lo- 
max) in a kind and fatherly tone, "My! general, you 




MRS. R. E. LEE, 

Wife of Gen. R. E. Lee, taken from an old photosvaph soon after the close 

of the war. The spots are result of defects on the original photograph. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 29 

should have used the bridge below." I suppose 
Gen. Lomax thought that as we were soldiers we 
ought not to mind a little wetting, even if the cold 
November winds were blowing. 

My recollection is that the whole army, infantry, 
cavalry and artillery, encamped in and around 
Brandy Station and prepared for winter. The in- 
fantry began to build little low huts, the cracks 
filled up with mud and tops covered with slabs 
split from logs. 

Every mess had its own hut. The cavalry, know- 
ing that they would likely be kept on the march, 
made no preparation for winter. 

Some time after this (I can't remember just how 
long) orders came to break camp and move back on 
the south side of the Rapidan. I do not know what 
commotion this move caused in the ranks of the in- 
fantry, but we cavalrymen, who remained for some 
time in that neighborhood and saw the deserted 
villages, sympathized with the infantry in the loss 
of their homes. But as the Six Hundred remarked, 
^'It is not for us to ask the reason why, but to do and 
die." 

Shortly afterward the cavalry withdrew to the 
south bank of the Rapidan, near the infantry. I 



130 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

think this was in Orange county, near Orange 
Courthouse, probably half a mile from the river. 

Some time in January a courier came in from the 
front across the river and reported that the enemy's 
cavalry had been seen a few miles below, moving 
toward our camp. 

The bugles sounded ''saddle up" all through the 
camp, and several regiments of cavalry were soon 
in line and crossing the river. They dismounted, 
formed in line of battle, and moved across the 
fields. We soon found the enemy in our front, also 
dismounted, and firing began. We were ordered to 
fall back gradually toward the river, fighting as 
we retreated, the object being to draw the enemy 
toward the batteries that were on the opposite side 
of the river. 

As we neared the banks of the river where the 
led horses were, our purpose was to remount and to 
cross the river, but the enemy pressed us so close 
that some of us, I among them, were compelled to 
cross on foot. This was rather a chilly experience, 
when you consider that it was the middle of Janu- 
ary. But we got over, and our batteries opened fire 
on the enemy and compelled them to fall back. 

Just as we came out of the river we met the in- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 13I 

f antry coming down and taking position behind the 
breastworks that had been thrown up along the 
south bank of the river. Those who had forded the 
river were allowed to go to camp, a short distance 
off, to dry their clothes, for it was freezing weather. 

I had mounted my horse, and as I passed the 
column of infantry coming down to the river, a 
bullet fired by the enemy's sharpshooter on the op- 
posite side struck one of the men, and he fell in a 
heap, dead, at the feet of my horse. He dropped as 
suddenly as if he had been taken by some powerful 
force and thrown violently to the ground. Every 
joint and muscle in his body seemed to have given 
way in an instant. 

After we had dried our clothes before the camp- 
fire our command re-crossed the river to find out 
what the enemy proposed to do. We were again 
dismounted and formed in line across the field as 
before, and, moving forward, found the enemy just 
beyond the reach of our batteries. Lying close to 
the ground we began firing at each other, continu- 
ing long after dark. Then the firing ceased. After 
remaining there for some time, someone in com- 
mand (I don't know who it was) ordered Capt. 
Gibson of our company to send four men with in- 



132 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

structions to creep up as near as they could to the 
enemy's lines, stay there, and report whenever the 
enemy withdrew. 

I was selected as one of the four men. When we 
got pretty near their line we got down flat on the 
ground, and like so many snakes crawled along until 
we got as close as we dared. We could distinctly 
see them on their horses, but we did not remain 
long before we saw them withdraw. We heard 
their officers giving the command. 

We then came back, and had some difficulty get- 
ting in without being shot, from the fact that the 
regiment to which we belonged had been with- 
drawn and another put in its place, and the men 
did not seem to understand that we were out on this 
mission. We made our report, and shortly after- 
ward mounted, re-crossed the river and went into 
camp. It proved to be nothing more than a recon- 
noissance of the enemy's cavalry, probably to find 
out whether Lee's army was still encamped on the 
river. 

Some time after this, perhaps two or three weeks, 
while on picket some miles up the river, a consider- 
able distance from the main army's encampment, 
a body of the enemy's cavalry crossed the river 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 133 

somewhere between the pickets, and got behind the 
line of pickets unobserved. 

It was a very foggy morning. Our post consisted 
of six men, and our position was a few hundred 
yards back of the river. 

Two of the men were on picket; the others were 
at the post. 

About 6 o'clock in the morning we heard a few 
shots in our rear. One of our men was sent back to 
find out the cause of it. He had not been gone 
many minutes when we heard other shots, which 
forced us to the conclusion that the enemy in some 
way had gotten behind us. Our pickets had also 
heard the firing, and came in to find out what the 
trouble was. 

We followed the direction of the shots, and had 
not gone far before we saw through the heavy fog 
quite a large body of cavalry. 

Whether friend or foe, it was impossible to de- 
termine. So vv^e thought discretion the better part 
of valor and immediately turned, each fellow tak- 
ing care of himself. 

Three went up the river. Faunt Neal and my- 
self took the opposite course. The Yankees (for 
it proved to be the enemy) had seen us, and started 



134 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

in pursuit. Neal and I rushed down the hill 
toward the river, passing a grove of small pine 
trees. My comrade turned abruptly to the right 
and hid himself in this sanctuary, while I contin- 
ued across the meadow and up the hill on the op- 
posite side into the woods and escaped. 

We all turned up in camp the next day except 
one. He had ridden straight into the enemy's lines, 
thinking they were Confederates. This ended his 
military career. 

I think it was about the first of February an order 
had been sent from headquarters allowing a cer- 
tain number of regiments a furlough. It extended 
to my regiment. Some of the companies could not 
avail themselves of it, because their homes were 
wholly in the territory occupied by the enemy. My 
company was among the fortunate ones, although 
many of our men w^ere from Loudoun and Fau- 
quier, and the enemy was occupying part of this 
territory and making frequent raids through the 
other portions. But our officers stood sponsor for 
us, and we started for our respective homes as 
happy as children let out of school. 

Those of us living in Loudoun and Fauquier had 
to observe the greatest caution to keep from being 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 35 

picked up by the enemy's scouting cavalry before 
reaching home. But there were no misfortunes, 
and with joy unspeakable, we, one by one, reached 
the ''Old Homesteads." 

To attempt to express the pleasure we got out of 
this little vacation would tax the English language 
severely. 

'Tis true that these were not just the old homes 
we had left three years before in our bright new 
uniforms, with well-groomed horses and full haver- 
sacks. The marching and counter-marching of 
first one army, then the other, destroying fences and 
barns and driving off cattle and horses, made a great 
change in the appearance of things. 

No one attempted to keep up appearances. Be- 
sides, at this time, nearly every home mourned one 
or more dead. The most of my old schoolmates 
who had crossed the Potomac en route for Gettys- 
burg went down on that hot July afternoon when 
Pickett made his famous charge, for the Eighth 
Virginia Infantry, in which nearly all my school- 
mates had enlisted, was almost annihilated that 
bloody afternoon. 

Among the killed was Edwin Bailey, whom I 
have already mentioned as going out with me from 



136 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Middleburg in the spring of 1862, he to rejoin his 
regiment, and I to enlist in the Sixth Virginia Cav- 
alry. By his side in that battle was his brother 
John. Edwin fell first, mortally wounded, and 
John, severely wounded, fell across him. Edwin 
said, "John, if you get home, tell them I died a 
Christian." These were his only and last words. 

I have often used this incident as an exemplifica- 
tion of the claims of Christianity. 

Notwithstanding all this, we enjoyed our vaca- 
tion immensely, but there was not a day that 
we were not in danger of being surrounded and 
captured. The bluecoats were scouting through 
the country almost continuously in search of Mos- 
by's "gang," as they called it. We had to keep on 
guard and watch the roads and hilltops every hour 
of the day. We had the advantage of knowing the 
country and the hiding places and the short cuts, 
and then we had our loyal servants, always willing 
to aid us to escape "them Yankees." 

For instance, I made a visit to Sunny Bank, the 
home of my brother-in-law, E. C. Broun. My 
horse was hitched to the rack, and I was inside en- 
joying the hospitalities of an old Virginia home, 
when one of the little darkies rushed in and said, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 37 

'^Yankees." They were soon all around the house, 
but, before getting there, one of the servants took the 
saddle and bridle off my steed, hid them, and 
turned him loose in the garden, where he posed as 
the old family driving nag, while I went to the back 
porch, climbed a ladder, and lifting a trap-door, 
got in between the ceiling and the roof. The trap- 
door was so adjusted that it did not show an open- 
ing. The ladder was taken away, and there I stayed 
until the enemy departed. I got back home 
safely, eight miles off, and had other close calls, 
but owing to the fidelity of the colored people, who 
were always on the watch, and whose loyalty to the 
Confederate soldiers, whether they belonged to the 
family in which they lived or not, was touching and 
beautiful beyond comprehension. They always 
called the Confederates ''Our Soldiers," and the 
other side "Them Yankees." 

About this time a new star appeared upon the 
field of Mars. John S. Mosby, a native of Warren- 
ton, Fauquier county, Virginia, serving as lieuten- 
ant in the First Virginia Cavalry, was captured 
and put in prison in Washington in the old Capitol. 
He was not there long before he was exchanged, 
but while there his mind was busy. He conceived 



138 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

the idea that if he had a small bodv of men well 
armed and well mounted, and given an independ- 
ent command, he could render the Confederacy 
great service by operating along the lines of the 
B. & O., the C. & O., and the Orange and Alexan- 
dria railroads, and also upon the enemy's supply 
trains, that were constantly moving to and fro up 
and down the valley and other sections. He re- 
ported his plan to Gen. Stuart when he got out of 
prison. Gen. Stuart favored it, and referred it to 
Gen. Lee, and Gen. Lee referred it to the War De- 
partment at Richmond, resulting in Mosby's being 
commissioned a captain, with ten men detached 
from his regiment (the First Virginia Cavalry) 
with permission to increase the number by recruit- 
ing from the young men in the district where he 
operated. 

Mosby lost no time in getting his little force to- 
gether at some point in Loudoun county. His first 
expedition was to Fairfax Courthouse. His plan 
was to get as close to the enemy as he could, hide 
his men behind a hill or in a body of timber, and 
rush pell-mell upon a passing wagon-train, or a de- 
tachment of Union troops, stampede them and cap- 
ture what he could. In this way he captured or de- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 39 

stroyed a great many wagons, took horses, mules 
and prisoners by the thousands. My younger 
brother Richard joined this command in 1864, be- 
ing a little over 17 years old. 

It may seem strange to the present age that a 
country devastated as this portion of Virginia was 
at this time, with so many homes mourning the loss 
of their brave sons slain in battle, or maimed for 
life, with starvation almost staring them in the face, 
with the capital of their country besieged by great 
armies, with what we would call at this day depri- 
vation and suffering incomparable, that the people 
could have any heart for festivities, such as dances 
and plays. But such was the fact. The soldiers 
during their furlough were received everywhere 
as heroes, and were banqueted and entertained as if 
peace and plenty reigned throughout the land. 
Many a parody like the following was gotten off: 
"There was a sound of revelry by night," and ''Les 
Miserables" (Lee's miserables) had gathered there. 

But it must be remembered that it was this spirit 
among the Southern people that made them endure 
their hardships and sustain the conflict as long as 
they did. It was the women standing loyally by 
their husbands, brothers and lovers that made the 



I40 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Southern soldiers ready to play or ready to fight, 
regardless of what they had in their haversacks or 
wore on their backs. 

There was no fixed time for our furlough, but we 
had places of rendezvous where we were ordered to 
meet once a week to receive instructions. Finally 
the time came when we were summoned to collect 
at Upperville (near the home of our captain) for 
the march back to the army. 

I do not remember the date, but it was early in 
March. I do remember the first encampment 
we made for the night. We got up the next morn- 
ing with six inches of snow covering us, resulting in 
my horse getting a bad cold, for during our fur- 
lough he was housed in a warm stable. This cold 
never left him, and he died from the effects of it 
several months afterward. 

We were ordered to report at Staunton, Va. It 
was a long march from Loudoun county, but we 
were used to long marches. When we arrived 
there we found our regiment awaiting us. With- 
out even a day's rest we were ordered to Rich- 
mond, a still longer march, and after remaining 
there two weeks we were ordered to Fredericks- 
burg. A line of this route drawn on the map would 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 141 

form almost a perfect letter C, and if it had not 
been for a small obstacle in our way, in all proba- 
bility we would have continued the march, forming 
the letter O. 

The obstacle in our way was Grant's army on the 
Rappahannock. 



Chapter VIII. 

From the Wilderness to James River. 

"Turning his bridle, Robert Lee 
Rode to the rear. Like waves of the sea, 
Bursting the dikes in their overflow, 
Madly his veterans dashed on the foe." 

The army of Northern Virginia had met and 
defeated McDowell, McClennan, Pope, Burnside 
and Hooker, and caused the retirement of Meade, 
but the Government at Washington had at last 
found a soldier believed to be a full match for Gen. 
Lee. 

Grant had been successful in the West, and his 
achievements had made him the Nation's idol, so 
he was brought to the East and placed in command 
of the army of the Potomac. 

All during the late fall and winter and early 
spring he was preparing an immense army, whose 
rendezvous was on the Rappahannock and in the 
district about Culpeper Courthouse. It was a 
greater and better equipped army than that under 
McClellan in 1862. Then again, McClellan 
was an untried soldier, while Grant had won his 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 43 

spurs on more than one battlefield. So the North 
had a right to feel that Lee would be beaten and 

Richmond captured. Besides this great army, an- 
other 30,000 strong was marching up the James 
river, taking the same route McClellan took two 
years before. 

Gen. Benj. F. Butler was its commander. The 
two armies were to unite and compel the surrender 
or evacuation of the Confederate Capital. 

It was about the first of May when Grant began 
his movements toward Lee's front. At this time 
the whole cavalry force of Gen. Lee was encamped 
in a rich grazing district about five miles from 
Fredericksburg. 

We had been there several weeks, our horses had 
been wading in grass up to their knees. They had 
shed their winter coats, and were looking fine, and 
seemed to be ready for the fray. 

Our principal article of food was fresh fish, 
caught from the Rappahannock river. 

As we loitered around the camp from day to day, 
speculating as to when we should be called to the 
front, and discussing what would be the result of 
the coming battle, we began to get restless, as sol- 
diers will. They live on excitement, and the boom- 



144 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ing of guns and the rattling of musketry is the 
sweetest music they can hear. 

One bright May morning (it must have been 
about the first day of the month) we saw a courier 
with his horse all flecked wath foam as he came 
dashing into our camp. He halted and asked for 
Gen. Stuart's headquarters. It proved to be a mes- 
senger from Gen. Lee, and it meant that the death- 
struggle was about to begin. 

Soon the bugles were sounding all through the 
camps the old familiar call, ''Saddle up, saddle up." 
We mounted, and each company forming in line 
and counting ollf by fours, wheeled into columns of 
two and marched off toward what was afterward 
known as the Battlefield of the Wilderness. 

We arrived at the position assigned us about 
dark, where we went into camp in the woods, tying 
our horses to the trees and building camp-fires to 
cook our supper. I had (like the boy in the parable 
of the loaves and fishes) in my haversack a few 
small fresh fish, and I was wondering whether they 
would be sweet or not. I remember distinctly lay- 
ing them on the coals of fire to broil. It has been 
43 years since then, but I can assure you I can al- 




GEN. P^ITZHUGH LEE, 
Who commanded a division of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry, 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 45 

most taste those fish today. I don't think I ever ate 
anything so sweet. 

The next day we were in the saddle early. The 
cavalry formed the right wing of Lee's army. The 
battle lasted two days. The cavalry fought almost 
entirely on foot. It was mostly in heavy timber and 
thick undergrowth. 

The first day we did not see the enemy, but we 
knew he was there, for the woods were ringing with 
the sound of their guns, and bullets were hissing 
about our ears. 

When we struck this heavy body of timber we 
found a narrow road running through it. We fol- 
lowed this road cautiously for two or three miles. 
My company was in front. About 200 yards in 
front of the company rode two soldiers, side by 
side. We knew somewhere in front of us was the 
enemy, and it was our mission to find him. Sud- 
denly we heard two shots — pop, pop. We all knew 
what that meant. The armies of Lee and Grant had 
met, and as far as I know, these were the first two 
shots fired of the Battle of the Wilderness. They had 
come from the enemy's guns. They had seen our 
advance guard, and the shots meant, ''so far shalt 



146 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

thou come, and no farther." We took the hint and 
halted. 

The regiment was dismounted, and the led horses 
were taken back some distance; we deployed 
on the right and left of the road and awaited re- 
sults; then moved forward until we discovered the 
enemy's line. We exchanged some shots, and 
began falling slowly back, while they advanced. 

As we retired, their bullets were hissing through 
our ranks and cutting the bark from the trees and 
the twigs from the bushes, and now and then strik- 
ing down our men. 

My cousin, Dallas Leith, and myself stood to- 
gether behind a tree for protection. As he fired, 
his head was exposed, and a bullet from the enemy's 
ranks just brushed his lips. He turned to me 
and said, "Wasn't that a close shave?" And at the 
same time a bullet grazed my finger as I fired. 

We fell back through the timber to the edge of 
the open fields, and getting behind a rail fence, re- 
mained there until the enemy came up. We held 
our fire until they got close to us, when we poured a 
volley into their ranks that sent them scurrying 
back through the woods. We then climbed the 
fence and followed them up. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 47 

About 20 Steps from the fence we saw two Yan- 
kees lying mortally wounded. We gathered around 
them and asked them some questions about where 
they were from, and one of our men pulled a pho- 
tograph from the pocket of one of them. It was a 
picture of a young girl, and one of the men said, '^I 
guess that's his sweetheart." He opened his eyes 
and said with much difficulty, ^'No, it is my sister." 
Our captain was standing by, and as the men were 
so close to our line, someone conceived the idea that 
they had come up to surrender, and one of them said 
to our captain, ''Captain, these men came up to 
surrender, and were shot down." One of the Yan- 
kees denied the accusation with some feeling. They 
were both shot in the breast, and were bleeding pro- 
fusely. It was very evident that they had but a 
short time to live. 

The captain ordered them to be taken back to a 
place of safety. They begged to remain where they 
were, saying that they hadn't long to live, but they 
were taken back to a safer place. 

We were again ordered forward, and kept on 
until we came in touch with the enemy, when the 
firing was resumed. 

Dallas Leith and myself were again behind a 



148 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

tree. He was kneeling down loading his gun, when 
his head was again exposed, and a ball struck him 
in the forehead. It tore away a part of the bone, 
exposing his brain. I felt confident the boy was 
killed, and had no other thought than that of leav- 
ing him there, for we had all we could do to carry 
back the wounded, much less the dead. 

We were then ordered to fall back, and someone 
more humane than I proposed that we carry his 
body back with us. I protested that it was impos- 
sible, but the others insisted, and, tying a handker- 
chief around his head, his hair drenched with 
blood, we picked him up and carried him 
back about a mile, when to our surprise we 
got into a road and there found an ambulance. 
Putting him in it, he was carried to the hos- 
pital, in the rear. Strange to say, he lived about 
ten days, giving his father time to come from Lou- 
doun county to see him before he died. About this 
same time his younger brother Henry (at home) 
w^as blown to pieces by a shell that he had picked 
up in the field on his father's farm and was trying to 
open it, to see what was inside. 

But to return to the battle. This state of things 
continued for two whole days, with little intermis- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 49 

sion. Sometimes, however, there was not a shot 
fired for an hour. 

During one of these intervals I remember sitting 
down, leaning my back against a large tree, and be- 
gan writing a letter to my folks at home. Capt. 
Gibson came up to me and said, ''Young man, if 
you don't want to get shot, you'd better get on the 
other side of that tree, for somewhere just in front 
of us, and not a great distance off, is the enemy's 
skirmish line, and they may open fire at any mo- 
ment." I moved behind the tree and resumed my 
writing, but was suddenly stopped by the sound of 
firing in our front, that caused us to creep farther 
back into the woods. 

On another occasion we had fallen back out of 
the timber into the open fields, and were firing from 
behind a fence at the enemy in the woods, whom we 
could not see for the undergrowth. Our attention 
was called to a large body of cavalry on our left, 
apparently the enemy on mischief bent. 

There are times in a battle when every private 
soldier on the firing line becomes a ''Commander- 
in-Chief." It is when orders cannot be given, or 
would not be heard if they were. Each soldier 



150 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

seems to know intuitively what to do, and the whole 
line acts in concert. 

At this particular time the body of cavalry on 
our left proved to be the bluecoats, moving toward 
our rear. It did not take long for the information 
to spread up and down the line, and at once every 
man in the ranks, in absence of any orders from 
headquarters, concluded that the thing to do was to 
fall back. So each soldier gave the order to him- 
self, and quicker than it takes time to tell it, the line 
was moving back over the fields. 

We had retreated perhaps 200 yards when the 
movement was noticed by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. He 
came galloping toward us on his white horse, and 
with a voice that could be heard above the shots of 
the guns, he said, ''What does this mean?" In re- 
ply, hundreds of hands pointed toward the enemy 
on our left, and some voices said, ''They're getting 
in our rear." Gen. Lee said, "Tut, tut, tut; go 
back, go back." And without a word every man 
wheeled around and started back for the position 
he had left. Gen. Lee perhaps knew that there 
were forces enough there to take care of the enemy, 
who, as we saw it, was getting behind us. 

As I said before, this kind of warfare continued 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 151 

for two days, and all the time it was going on we 
could hear the booming of the artillery on our left, 
telling us that Grant was doing all he could to beat 
back or break through Lee's lines, and we knew, 
too, that he was not accomplishing his purpose. We 
could always tell which way the battle was going 
by the direction from which the sound came. 

The night of the second day Grant silently and 
rapidly withdrew the main portion of his army 
from Lee's front and marched toward Spottsyl- 
vania Courthouse, which was some distance to the 
right of where the cavalry was fighting. 

His object was to surprise Gen. Lee, and get be- 
tween him and Richmond. But Gen. Lee had an- 
ticipated that very movement, and when Grant's 
infantry moved forward at Spottsylvania Court- 
house, he found Lee's army there confronting him. 
Then began the bloodiest battle of all the war, so 
it is said. 

It was during the Battle of the Wilderness that 
Gen. Grant sent that famous dispatch to Washing- 
ton, 'T will fight it out on this line if it takes all 
summer." If he meant the line between his army 
and Lee's, he changed his mind within 24 hours. 
But if he meant a line stretching from Wilderness 



152 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

to Petersburg, he kept his word. It took him all 
summer to get his army south of the James river, 
and cost him the loss (it is said) of 100,000 soldiers. 

He could have placed his army there without 
firing a shot by following the route taken by Mc- 
Clellan, but Grant well knew he must first cripple 
Lee's army before he could capture Richmond, and 
that he could afford to lose five men to Lee's one 
in doing it, and I presume he thought the district 
called the ^'Wilderness" a good place to begin the 
work. 

While Grant's army was moving under the cover 
of night and the dense forests toward Spottsylvania 
Courthouse, our cavalry also moved in the same 
direction. And when Grant ordered his lines for- 
ward the next morning, the first to receive them was 
our cavalry. 

The enemy's cavalry still confronted us when we 
began fighting. It seemed to be the same old tac- 
tics that had been played for the last two days, ex- 
cept that it was a little fiercer. 

Among the killed that day was a handsome young 
colonel of one of the regiments of our brigade. His 
name was Collins. I think he was a Georgian. 

He was always dressed as if he were going to a 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 53 

reception. His complexion was as fair as a 
woman's. His hair was light. He habitually wore 
a clean white collar and a bright new uniform 
(something unusual among soldiers in the midst 
of an active campaign), but ''death loves a shining 
mark," and he was taken off. 

About 10 o'clock in the morning our cavalry was 
withdrawn from the front, and going back to our 
led horses we mounted and slowly rode back to- 
ward Spottsylvania Courthouse. 

The country here was different from where we 
had been fighting the two days previous. Much of 
it was open fields, and the timbered part of it was 
not encumbered with undergrowth. 

As we slowly fell back we looked behind us and 
saw a gorgeous sight. It was Grant's line of battle 
moving forward as if on "Dress Parade," their 
brass buttons and steel guns with fixed bayonets 
glistening in the sun, with their banners floating in 
the breeze. The first thought among the private 
soldiers was, "Has Grant stolen a march on Lee, 
and is Richmond doomed?" It certainly looked 
so at this moment, but we kept on falling back. 

As we entered the woods we suddenly came upon 
Lee's infantry lying down in line of battle waiting 



154 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

the enemy's advance. As we approached them, 
word was passed up and down the line not to cheer 
the infantry. This was the custom in the face of a 
battle when the cavalry, retiring from the front, 
gave way to the infantry. 

They opened their ranks and let us pass through, 
and we formed in line some distance behind them. 
The infantry was entirely concealed from the 
enemy's view, and up to this time I am quite sure 
that Grant did not know that he was facing Lee's 
army at Spottsylvania Courthouse. But he was 
soon to be undeceived in a manner most tragic. 

Lee's infantry waited until the enemy was within 
loo yards, and then, rising to their feet, poured a 
volley into their ranks that brought many of them 
to the ground, and sent the others back from whence 
they came. This was only the beginning of the 
battle. 

Leaving the infantry to take care of that part of 
the field, the cavalry was moved a mile to the right 
and again dismounted, and moved forward until 
we came under fire of the enemy's guns. We laid^ 
down behind a rail fence and fired between the 
rails. A bullet struck a rail just in front of my head 
and knocked the dust and splinters in my face, al- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 55 

most blinding me for a little while. We did not 
remain there very long, but were soon ordered 
back, and as we moved across the open fields in full 
view of the enemy, they kept up an incessant fire, 
many of the shots taking effect. 

We could see the Union officers on the little hills 
in every direction, with their field glasses to their 
eyes, trying to discover what was in front of them. 

The cavalry retired from the field, leaving the 
infantry to do the rest. How well it was done the 
historian has tragically told the story. It was on 
this field that ^'Hancock, the superb," made eight 
distinct attacks on Lee's center, and finally break- 
ing his line of battle, rushed his troops by thousands 
into the breach, and for the moment it looked as 
if the Confederacy was doomed. 

Gen. Lee, seeing the peril in which his army was 
placed, ordered forward Gordon's division (which 
he was holding in reserve), placed himself at the 
head of it, and was about to lead them into battle 
in order to restore his broken lines. Shells were 
falling about Gen. Lee and his life was in peril. 
One of the officers rode up to him and said, ^'Gen. 
Lee, this is no place for you; you must go to the 
rear." His troops refused to go forward until Gen. 



156 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Lee had retired from the front. One of the soldiers 
came forward, and taking the reins of Lee's horse, 
led him back. Then Gen. Gordon led his division 
forward, the enemy was driven back, the line was 
restored, and Gen. Lee's army was saved from de- 
struction and another year added to the life of the 
Confederacy. 

I heard Gen. Gordon in a lecture delivered at 
**Music Hall," Baltimore, some years ago, describ- 
ing this event, say (as he stretched out his hands 
horizontally), "My dead were piled that high, and 
three days after the battle I saw wounded men try- 
ing to pull themselves from under the mass of the 
dead above them. And at one point the slopes were 
so slippery with blood that my soldiers could not 
stand until the ground had been carpeted with the 
bodies of their fallen comrades." 

A tree about six inches in diameter standing in 
a field was literally cut down by bullets, not a shot 
from a cannon having been fired on that part of the 
field. 

The Standard Encyclopedia puts the strength of 
Grant's army at 150,000, but does not state how 
many men Lee had. Perhaps 75,000 would be a 
fair estimate. The same authority gives Grant's 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 57 

losses at the battle of the Wilderness as 18,000; 
Lee's at 11,000.* 

The losses in the battle of Spottsylvania Court- 
house, fought two days afterward, were as great, 
if not greater, than those of the Wilderness. 

When the cavalry retired from the front they 
mounted their horses, and almost Lee's entire cav- 
alry force, headed by their chief, Gen. J. E. B. 
Stuart, started in a bee line for Richmond, without 
halting a moment. 

Gen. Sheridan, commanding Grant's cavalry, 
had passed around our right wing with his whole 
command, and was heading toward the Confed- 
erate Capital. 

I think it was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon 
when we started. Sheridan was several miles ahead 
of us. We marched all night. We overtook Sheri- 
dan at Hanover Junction, on the railroad leading 
to Richmond; not, however, until he had destroyed 
a large quantity of provisions stored there for Lee's 
army, a great loss to the Confederates at that time. 



♦General Longstreet gives 63,998 as the total strength of Lee's 
army in this campaign. Longstreet was severely wounded at the 
Battle of the Wilderness by a bullet shot through the neck. Was 
carried from the field on a litter, and was unable to return to the 
army for several months. Lee had lost the services of Jos. E. John- 
son, Jackson, Longstreet, and a few days later J. E. B. Stuart. These 
were his ablest lieutenants. 



158 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Sheridan had prepared for this expedition, and 
all of his men had well-filled haversacks, while 
ours were empty. 

I cannot remember just when and where we got 
in front of Sheridan, but I know from Hanover 
Junction on wx were in constant touch with his 
forces, and harassed them all we could. 

At a place called "Yellow Tavern" several regi- 
ments of our cavalry (mine among them) were dis- 
mounted, formed across the fields, and moved for- 
ward in real line of battle style until we came upon 
the enemy, also dismounted. After a brisk en- 
counter we fell back to a road that was somewhat 
sunken. 

There we halted for the purpose of stopping the 
enemy's advance, for the sunken road furnished 
us some protection, but they did not stop. They 
marched on, firing as they came. 

Their line was longer and thicker than ours, and 
it was evident that we were about to be surrounded. 
Some of our men mounted the fence in the rear and 
fled across the fields. Others stood their ground 
and were captured, I among them. 

I was near Colonel Pate, the colonel command- 
ing a regiment in my brigade. He was killed by a 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 59 

bullet striking him in the center of the forehead. 
Also near me was our captain, Bruce Gibson. 

There was a little culvert across a ditch in the 
road that the farmers used in going from the road 
into the field. Some of our men crept under this 
culvert and escaped. Probably 200 of us were 
captured. 

But the army sustained a greater loss than that, 
a loss second only to that of Stonewall Jackson. 

Just behind our line in the field was Gen. Stuart 
with his staff. A bullet struck him somewhere 
about the stomach. He was held on his horse until 
it was led to a place of safety. Then he was taken 
from his horse, put into an ambulance and carried 
to Richmond. He died the next day. 

Stuart was considered the greatest cavalry leader 
of the war on either side, and his death brought a 
very great loss to Gen. Lee, and also to the whole 
Confederacy. 

The Confederacy had from the beginning at- 
tached greater importance to the cavalry arm of 
the service than had the North, and many had been 
the daring raids that Stuart made within the 
enemy's lines, capturing thousands of wagons laden 
with military stores, and many thousand prisoners. 



l6o FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

In fact, almost our entire cavalry was equipped 
with saddles, bridles and arms captured from the 
enemy; nearly all the w^agons in Lee's army were 
captured wagons. But perhaps Providence knew 
that the time was near at hand when we would not 
need these things, so He permitted the one who had 
been the means of supplying our wants in this par- 
ticular to retire from the field. He was buried in 
Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va., and a mag- 
nificent equestrian statue marks the spot. 

Many of Stuart's raids were made under the 
cover of darkness. He always wore a long ostrich 
feather in his hat, and was a splendid rider. The 
soldiers had a war song, the chorus of which was 
something like this: "We'll follow the feather of 
Stuart tonight." 

The prisoners were taken back and put under 
guard. I think this was about 4 o'clock in the after- 
noon. We remained there quietly until after dark, 
all the time, however, the fighting was going on, 
but we were out of reach of danger in that respect, 
so we had a brief breathing spell. 

After dark Sheridan's whole command began to 
move slowly toward Richmond, making frequent 
stops of a few minutes. The prisoners marched 




A BATTLE-SCARRED CONFEDERATE BANNER. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. l6l 

two abreast, with a line of cavalry guard on each 
side. We had, of course, to keep up with the 

cavalry. 

Our guard was very kind to us, and allowed us 
to take hold of their stirrup straps, which was quite 
a help to us as we marched along, especially in 
crossing streams, one of which I remember was up 
to our waists. It began raining at midnight, and 
continued most of the next day. The night was 
very dark, and from the distance we had covered 
from the time we started, it seemed to us that we 
must be very near the city. Finally we turned to 
the left and moved toward the James river, in a 
southeasterly direction from Richmond. 

As we had no sleep the night before, but rode 
all night, and now were walking all night in the 
rain and mud, and without food, you may know 
we were in a wretched condition. Every now and 
then a friendly Yank would hand us a cracker from 
his haversack, saying, ''Here, Johnnie." But they 
were on short rations themselves, and could not 
help us much in that respect. 

The next day we were in constant peril from the 
shells thrown from the Confederate batteries, that 
seemed to come in every direction. In fact, Sheri- 



1 62 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

■dan was completely surrounded, except on one 
side, and his progress was stopped there by the 
Chickahominy river. 

This is a slow, marshy river, crossed by two 
or three bridges. The chief one had been destroyed 
by the Confederates. Sheridan was in close quar- 
ters, and we prisoners had made up our minds that 
he would have to surrender his army. 

We got so bold and impudent that we hailed 
Yankee officers as they passed us, and said, "Hey 
there, Mr. Yank, I speak for that horse." 

Among these officers so hailed was a red-headed 
major, who was in command of our guard. Prior 
to this, he had been very surly and exceedingly 
gruff and harsh. So much so, that the prisoners 
had whispered among themselves that if we did 
get him in our hands weM make him sweat, and 
when it became evident not only to us, but to the 
enemy, that they were in danger of capture, this 
particular officer changed his attitude toward us 
very perceptibly. He took our jeers and taunts 
without a word, and, luckily for us, about this time 
he was relieved of his position, and another put in 
his place. Perhaps he had asked for it, knowing 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 63 

fhat he wouldn't receive very kind treatment if he 
fell into our hands. 

But, oh, the irony of Fate. On a hill fronting 
the river (not far from the bridge) was an old Vir- 
ginia mansion. The prisoners were led to this 
house and ordered to tear it down and carry the 
timbers to the river and rebuild the bridge. What 
do you think of that? Of course, we had to obey, 
but we made loud complaints, and while we were 
carrying this timber and rebuilding the bridge, 
our enemy was protecting us, from their stand- 
point (as far as they could), by keeping back the 
Confederates, who were pouring shot and shell 
into their ranks from every direction. The bridge 
was repaired, Sheridan's command was soon safe on 
the other side, and our hopes died away. 

There are two little incidents connected with my 
capture that I ought not to leave out, so I will go 
back to that event. The first one may serve a good 
purpose if the reader is ever placed in similar cir- 
cumstances. 

When I realized that we were in the hands of the 
enemy, but before they had gotten to where I was, 
I lay down on my face in the ditch alongside of 
the wounded and dead, pretending myself to be 



164 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

dead. I had die most awful feeling while lying 
there imaginable, and felt that at any moment I 
might be thrust through with a bayonet, and the 
feeling was so intense that as soon as I heard the 
Yankees tramping about me and calling upon the 
men to surrender, I got up and surrendered. If 
I had only had presence of mind enough to have 
lain on my back and watched them from the cor- 
ner of my eye, I might have passed through the or- 
deal and escaped after they left, as they did not 
remain long. 

In the first place, the men were cavalrymen, and 
hence had no bayonets. Then again, the Confed- 
erate bullets were hissing about their ears in such 
a manner that they never would have thought of 
testing a "Johnnie Reb" in that way in order to see 
whether he was really dead or playing possum. 

The other incident was the second night after our 
capture. It was still raining, and the weather was 
quite cool for the season (it was about the loth of 
May). We were all wet to the skin, and nearly 
starved. We were stopped in a field, a guard 
placed around us, an old cow driven up and shot, 
and we were told to help ourselves. So every fel- 
low that could get a knife went up and cut his own 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 65 

Steak. They gave us some fence rails, out of which 
we made little fires and broiled our cow meat. She 
may have been tough and old, and I know we had 
no salt, but the meat was as sweet to us as any porter- 
house steak we had ever eaten. 

We huddled together for the night like pigs, and 
slept comfortably, notwithstanding we had tramped 
the earth into a mud hole. 

But to go back to the crossing of the Chickahom- 
iny river. Once across that river, the enemy seemed 
to have very little opposition to their march toward 
the James. 

1 know it was a long, weary march, and their 
horses were giving out all along the way. When a 
horse got too sore-footed to travel, he was shot, 
and as we passed along we saw hundreds of these 
horses, with the warm life-blood flowing from a 
hole in their foreheads, lying by the side of the 
road. This was done to prevent the horses from 
falling into the hands of the Confederates. 

When we got in sight of the James river, the 
prisoners were halted in an orchard, and rested there 
for an hour or so. Just over the fence were some 
little pigs, with their tails curled around like a 
curl on a girl's head, rooting around for some- 



1 66 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

thing nice to eat. One of the prisoners called to a 
Yankee to catch a pig and throw it over the fence. 
He at once made a dive for the pigs and got one, and 
threw it to us. A great crowd rushed for the pig, 
every fellow with a knife in his hand, and as many 
as could get hold of the little fellow began cutting 
into his anatomy. I had hold of one of the hind 
legs, and while we cut, the pig squeeled. I got a 
whole ham for my share. Of course, I shared it 
with my comrades. 

We gathered sticks and built little fires, and had 
a grand feast of roast pig. My, it was sweet! 
There was neither ceremony, pepper nor salt. 

Soon after this banquet we were marched to the 
James river, put on a steamer, and our empty stom- 
achs filled to the brim with a good dinner. The 
first course was good beef soup, thickened with 
vegetables. We certainly enjoyed it. Then came 
roast beef and real baker's bread (something we 
hadn't had for an age) . 

But to go back to Spottsylvania Courthouse. 
Grant's efforts to get to Richmond by beaking 
through Lee's lines were as ineffectual there as they 
had been in the Wilderness two days before. So he 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 67 

packed his grip (so to speak) and made another 
move toward the James river. 

These two battles, of course, had reduced his 
fighting forces materially, but the Government at 
Washington kept filling up his ranks and supplying 
him with every need. In fact, in one case particu- 
larly, they sent him more war material than he 
could use, and rather than encumber his march, he 
sent 100 cannon back to Washington, while the 
poor Confeds had no such source of supply, and 
had to be content with making the best of the ma- 
terial they had. 

Gen. Lee moved his army in a parallel line with 
Grant's, and kept in his front, ready to dispute his 
passage if he attempted to move forward. 



Chapter IX. 

From James River to Petersburg. 

"Down on the left of the Rebel lines, 

Where a breastwork stands on a copse of pines, 

Before the Rebels their ranks can form, 

The Yankees have carried the place by storm." 

I think it was about the 12th of May when 
Grant began his march from Spottsylvania, and it 
was, I think, the 3rd of June when he made an- 
other attempt at Cold Harbor to enter Richmond 
by breaking through Lee's army, and another des- 
perate battle was fought, but the losses were not 
so great as they were at the Wilderness or Spottsyl- 
vania. Grant, however, was again defeated, and 
continued his march toward the James river. In 
this battle the colonel of my regiment (Flournoy) 
was killed. He was a dashing young colonel, but 
not as prudent as an officer should be. At the time 
he was killed he was standing on the top of the 
breastworks, behind which men were fighting, 
shouting defiance at the enemy, and challenging 
them to come out in the open and fight it out. Of 
course, it did not take them long to put a bullet 

1«8 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 69 

through his body. At one time he was major 
of the regiment, then lieutenant-colonel, and on 
the retirement of his father, he was made colonel. 
His father was once Governor of the State. Rich- 
ards, Captain of Company C, was made colonel 
of our regiment, and held this position during the 
war. He had commanded a company of cavalry 
from Clark county, Virginia. 

Grant differed from other commanders who 
fought the army of Northern Virginia in this re- 
spect — he refused to acknowledge defeat. If his 
attacks failed at one point after repeated attempts, 
he would move his army to the left and attack again. 
This he kept up to the end of the war. 

Not being able to reach Richmond by attacking 
Lee on the north side of the river, he crossed his 
main army to the south side, and stretching out his 
line of battle from the James to Petersburg, began 
a long siege, that lasted through the fall and winter 
till late in the spring. 

Now to go back to prison. 

The steamer on which we were placed and given 
such a good, substantial dinner, soon after this took 
its departure down the James and landed us at 
Fortress Monroe, where we were put in an in- 



170 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

closure with a number of other prisoners, and 
among them the officers and crew of the British 
steamer "Grayhound," that had been captured 
while trying to run a blockade into one of the 
Southern ports. 

They all seemed to be Southern sympathizers, 
and whenever they had an opportunity showed the 
Confederate prisoners much kindness, even going 
so far as to distribute gold among them, of which 
they seemed to have an abundant supply. This was, 
of course, done on the sly, and the Confederates 
were careful to conceal these gifts. Those who 
were well enough off to wear stockings, slipped the 
gold in their stocking-leg. Some put it in their 
mouths. This was necessary, as the prisoners were 
frequently searched. 

These Englishmen were loud in their protests, 
and were making all kinds of threats as to what 
their Government would do if it learned of their 
treatment. 

After remaining there a few days the Confed- 
erates were again marched aboard a steamer and 
taken to "Point Lookout," where a regular prison- 
camp had been established. I think there were 
about 15,000 prisoners at this camp guarded by 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 171 

negro troops, which made our Southern blood boil. 
As the darkies used to say, "The bottom rail had 
got on top." 

The camp was on a point of land formed by the 
junction of the Potomac river and Chesapeake Bay 
on the north side of the river. I imagine there were 
about ten acres of ground, surrounded by a high 
board fence, probably about 14 feet high. Just be- 
low the top was built a platform about three feet 
wide, and on this platform the guards walked to 
and fro with their guns on their shoulders. From 
their position they could overlook the whole camp, 
as the ground was perfectly level. There was 
also a strong guard inside the camp, while artillery 
and regiments of infantry were stationed near the 
camp to guard it from outside attack, and one or 
more gunboats patrolled the waters that nearly 
surrounded the camp. 

Notwithstanding this precaution, occasionally 
prisoners made their escape. One ingenious 
method that baffled our guards for a long time was 
the following: 

The prisoners were allowed to go outside of the 
enclosure on the beach to bathe. And if an empty 
barrel or box happened to be floating on the water, 



172 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

a prisoner in bathing would watch his opportunity, 
slip his head under the barrel or box, and then as 
the tide drifted up the river, would follow it, keep- 
ing as near the shore as necessary until he got be- 
yond the reach of the guard, and then take to the 
woods. 

The punishment for trying to escape was cruel. 
Those who were caught at it were strung up to a 
pole by the thumbs, with the tips of their toes just 
touching the ground. Sometimes the men would 
faint, and had to be cut down. 

Upon the whole, prison life was very monoton- 
ous. It was an unhealthy camp; so much so, that 
the prisoners considered that they had a better 
chance for their lives fighting in the army. 

The water was brackish and unpleasant to the 
taste. The only water we had was from pumps 
scattered about over the camps, and during the four 
months that I was there the pumps were always 
surrounded by a thirsty crowd of from 40 to 50 
prisoners, each with his tincup, trying to wedge 
his way in, that he might quench his thirst. 

The food, while good, was very scant. Break- 
fast consisted of coffee and a loaf of bread, which, 
under ordinary circumstances, with vegetables and 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 73 

Other food, would probably suffice for two meals. 
This loaf was given us at breakfast, and if we ate 
It all then we went without bread for dinner. If 
there was any left over we took it to our tents, laid 
it on the ground, and saved it for dinner. 

The dinners consisted of a tincup of soup (gen- 
erally bean or other vegetable), a small piece of 
meat on a tinplate, on which a little vinegar was 
poured to prevent scurvy. My recollection is we 
had no other meal, but my mind is not perfectly 
clear on this point. I do know, however, that we 
were always hungry, and the chief topic of con- 
versation was the sumptuous meals we had sat down 
to in other days. 

As I recalled the tables of former years laden 
with bacon, cabbage, potatoes and homing'-, I re- 
member how I reproached myself for not having 
eaten more when I had the opportunity. Delica- 
cies never entered into the discussion ; it was always 
the plain, simple foods that we talked about and 
longed for. 

We were told that the short rations were given 
us in retaliation for the scanty food supplied to 
their soldiers in Southern prisons. 

The hospitals were crowded all the time, and 



174 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

there were many sick in the camp waiting their 
opportunity to go into hospitals. 

We lived in what is known as Sibley tents, shaped 
like a bell, with an opening in the top about 15 
inches in diameter. 

There were 12 men to a tent, who, when they 
slept, arranged themselves in a circle, like the 
spokes of a wagon, with their feet toward the cen- 
ter. These tents were as close as they could stand 
on the ground, with wide avenues between every 
two rows of tents, thus allowing every tent to front 
on an avenue. 

Every day the prisoners were called out of their 
tents and formed in line; roll was called and the 
prisoners searched. And while they were being 
searched, the guards were searching the tents. For 
just what purpose this search was done I do not 
know, unless it was for fear that arms might be 
smuggled in to be used by the prisoners for making 
their escape. 

Many of the prisoners had a peculiar affection 
of the eyes, caused, perhaps, by the glare from the 
white tents, the sand, and the reflection from the 
water. There was nothing green to be seen any- 
where, consequently many of the prisoners became 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 175 

blind for a portion of the 24 hours. Just as the sun 
was sinking behind the fence they would become 
totally blind, and had to be led about by someone. 
As morning light came the blindness would disap- 
pear. 

Some of the prisoners who were mechanics or 
artisans got work outside, but I believe they got no 
pay except full rations and the privilege of bring- 
ing things into camp, such as blocks of wood, pieces 
of metal, etc. Out of these were manufactured a 
great many interesting little articles — small steam 
locomotives, wooden fans, rings from rubber but- 
tons set with gold and silver, and sometimes gems. 
One ingenious fellow built a small distillery and 
made whiskey from potato rinds or whatever 
refuse he could pick up, and got drunk on the 
product. 

All about the camp were boards on which these 
manufactured articles were exposed for sale. A 
cracker would buy a chew of tobacco. The to- 
bacco was cut up into chews and half chews. The 
crackers were brought in by the men who went out 
to work. I cannot recall all the curious things that 
were exposed for sale within the camp. 

Whilst in prison, twice I was very kindly remem- 



176 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

bered by Miss Melissa Baker of Baltimore, Md., 
who sent me boxes containing provisions, clothing, 
towels, soap, toothbrush, jars of preserves, cooked 
ham, crackers, lemons, tea, coffee and sugar. 
When I received the first box I just concluded that 
I was going to kill myself eating. I ate, and ate, 
and ate. I simply could not stop ; and so did all my 
comrades in the tent. 

So, of course, the box didn't last long. How- 
ever, at first I suffered no evil consequences, but 
finally, like most of the other prisoners, was taken 
sick (but not from eating) , and my comrades made 
application for my entrance into the hospital. I 
had to wait a week or ten days before there was a 
vacancy. I was carried there on a stretcher, and 
was so sick that I had to be fed. 

Soon after my entrance into the hospital Caleb 
Rector was brought in. His home was on the turn- 
pike between Middleburg and Upperville. He 
had a scorching fever, and was soon delirious. I 
put my hand on him, and the heat almost burned 
me. One day a nurse took a wet towel and put it 
on his forehead. Although he was unconscious, I 
saw a smile play over his face, and as the nurse was 
bending over him he reached up one hand and 



f^ n ' ^-^ '" — r — " 




GEN. A. P. HILL, 

rommanding a corps of Lee's army. Killed just Ix^fore rlie final surrender 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 77 

caught the nurse by the hair; then pulling his head 
down, and lifting the wet towel with his other 
hand, tried to put it on the nurse's forehead. That 
act revealed the character of the man. He was 
open-hearted and generous, and the cool towel on 
his forehead was so pleasant to him that he wanted 
the nurse to share it with him. 

The nurses were all men, chosen from among the 
prisoners. I never saw a woman the whole time I 
was in prison. 

The hospitals were long tents, each holding about 
30 cots. As soon as a patient died, he w^as taken out 
to the dead-house, the sheets changed, and another 
brought in. 

When I was first taken there I remarked to my 
neighbor that I did not think that was very healthy 
(meaning the placing of a new patient at once on 
a bed that was still warm from the body that had 
just been removed). He replied that the bed that 
I was on had been occupied by a smallpox patient, 
and I was put on it a few minutes after the patient 
was taken out. 

However, there was a separate hospital for con- 
tagious diseases, and the patient was removed as 
soon as the disease developed. 



178 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Most of those who went into the hospital died. 
The dead were all carried at once to the dead-house 
on stretchers, and once a day a two-horse wagon 
came in, and their bodies were laid in it like so 
much cord wood, uncoffined, taken out and buried 
in long trenches. The trenches were seven feet 
wide and three feet deep, and the bodies were laid 
across the trench side by side and covered with 
earth. 

I had been in prison about four months when 
news came that the two Governments had agreed 
upon an exchange of prisoners ; it only included the 
sick in the hospitals. Of course, every patient in 
the hospital was on the anxious bench and wonder- 
ing whether he would be included among the for- 
tunate ones. Some days afterward a corps of phy- 
sicians came to the hospital tents examining the 
different patients that lay in the cots, taking the 
name of one and leaving another. I happened to 
be among those who were selected for exchange. 
The object seemed to be to take only those who were 
not liable to be fit for service soon. 

We were not at this time exchanged, but each 
side had agreed to parole the sick from the hospi- 
tals, that is, those who were not too ill to be moved. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 79 

At one time the two Governments freely exchanged 
prisoners, but this worked so much to the advantage 
of the South that the North refused to continue the 
agreement. All Southern soldiers were enlisted 
for the war, and when the prisoners came back 
from the North they went at once into the armies 
of the Confederacy, while Northern prisoners, re- 
turning from the South, mostly went to their homes, 
as they enlisted for one year, and their terms of 
service in most cases had about expired. Then 
again, the South was taxed severely to feed its own 
soldiers and citizens, and w^ere only too glad to get 
rid of the burden of caring for Northern prison- 
ers, and hence the North did all they could to re- 
strict the exchange of prisoners, but there was such 
a pressure brought to bear upon the U. S. Govern- 
ment by those who had sick and wounded friends 
confined in Southern prisons, that now and then 
each side would parole a number of prisoners from 
the hospitals who might later be exchanged. My 
recollection is that about 1500 Confederate pris- 
oners in the hospital at Point Lookout were paroled 
at this time, and I among them. 

We were put on a steamer and carried to a point 
below Richmond, on the James river, where we 



l8o FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

met a like number of Federal prisoners that came 
down from Richmond, and there the exchange was 
made. The vessel that carried us up the river was 
a small one, and the sick were packed on the deck 
and in the hold of the vessel as thick as they could 
lay. They were all sick, but had to lie on the hard 
decks with no attention, except that a doctor now 
and then went through the vessel handing out pills 
to any who wanted them. He carried them loose 
in his pocket, and as he stepped between and over 
the men as they lay on the hard beds, he would say, 
"Who wants a pill?" And all around him the 
bony, emaciated arms w^ould be stretched up to re- 
ceive the medicine. What the pills contained no 
one knew, but the suffering men swallowed them 
and asked no questions. They were sick, and needed 
medicine, and this was medicine. What more did 
a sick soldier need? The disease, however, was 
almost entirely a bowel affection, and, perhaps, the 
same medicine served for all cases. Many died on 
the way. A large number of the dead were put off 
at Fortress Monroe as the vessel passed. 

Just before reaching the point where the vessels 
were to meet in the river, our vessel was drawn up 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. l8l 

alongside of a fine large steamer, and we were 
transferred to it. 

All the very sick were placed upon new mat- 
tresses. This was the condition in which we were 
received by our Confederate friends. 

The vessel that landed us on the bank of the 
James took back the Federal prisoners that had 
been brought down from Richmond, but I hardly 
think they were transferred to the smaller vessel 
that brought us from Point Lookout. The Federal 
authorities were ashamed to let the officers of the 
Confederate Government see the miserable condi- 
tion in which we were transported ; hence the trans- 
fer to the larger vessel just before delivering us to 
the Confederates. As soon as we landed we were 
all given a tincup of hot, nutritious soup, the like 
of which we had not tasted since leaving our homes 
for the field, unless it was the soup the Yanks had 
given us four months before when we embarked on 
the James river for Fortress Monroe prison. 

We were conveyed from this point to Richmond 
by rail, and distributed among the various army 
hospitals in the city. I was sent to the Chimborazo 
Hospital, on the outskirts of the city, located on a 
bluff looking down the river, within hearing dis- 



1 82 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

tance of the siege guns on Dury's Bluff, on the 
James. These were constantly throwing missiles of 
some sort at the Yankee gunboats below. I re- 
mained in the hospital about ten days, and then was 
considered well enough to go into camp with other 
convalescents. There were several hundred of us. 
The camp was near the city. 

Some were paroled prisoners and some were 
from the hospitals of the city, but not strong enough 
to return to their commands. 

All who could reach their homes were allowed 
leave of absence, but much of the Confederate ter- 
ritory was then in the hands of the Northern 
armies, and all whose homes could not in safety be 
reached were placed in camps until they were in 
condition for active service. Of course, those on 
parole could not re-enter the army until regularly 
exchanged. 

After remaining in this camp a short time and 
receiving in Confederate paper money a portion 
of our pay, we were marched into Richmond and 
to one of the depots. We did not know what dis- 
position they intended making of us (perhaps we 
were going to a new camp), but there was a train 
that was just starting out for Gordonsville, so three 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 83 

of US got on the rear platform of the end car and 
thus beat our way to Gordonsville without being 
noticed. This was as far as the train could go in 
safety on account of the proximity of the enemy. 
When we got off we noticed Gen. Lee standing in 
the crowd, having just alighted from the train. I 
had often seen him, but never got as close to him as 
I desired. Now, this was my chance. I went up 
within five feet of him, and took a good look. I 
never expect again to look upon such a splendid 
piece of humanity. He was dressed in a new Con- 
federate uniform that fitted him perfectly, with 
long-legged boots, reaching above the knees. His 
collar was adorned on each side with three gold 
stars, surrounded by a gold wreath. His head was 
covered with a new soft black hat, encircled with 
a gold cord, from which dangled two gold acorns, 
one on each end. His hands were covered with 
yellow buckskin gauntlets, reaching one-third the 
way to his elbows. His beard was iron-gra}^, white 
predominating; it was closely clipped, and was 
what is called a full beard. I imagined that he 
was a little over six feet and would weigh 190 
pounds. His eyes, I think, were brown, and as 
bright as stars. No picture could possibly do him 



184 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

justice. I suppose it would take cycles of time to 
produce another such as he — so perfect in form and 
feature. 

We three at once struck off across the fields to 
go as far as we could toward our homes. We 
moved in the direction of Charlottesville, and, 
avoiding the town, passed beyond, but were soon 
apprised of the fact that we could not go farther 
without danger of running into the enemy. We 
put up at a farmhouse for a few days, and after 
learning that the enemy had withdrawn from the 
immediate vicinity, we took to the road, our desti- 
nation being the home of my brother Gerard, a 
farmer living near McGaheysville, Rockingham 
county, just west of the Blue Ridge. We arrived 
there in due time, and remained quite a while, per- 
haps a month. We did work about the farm, which 
was accepted as compensation for our board. Of 
course, no one thought of asking money considera- 
tion from a soldier, and as far as I was concerned, 
I felt free to come and go without money and with- 
out price. 

When I was captured I rode a borrowed horse, 
belonging to one of the members of my command. 
This horse was not captured with me, and was 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 85 

taken possession of by the owner, but I had a horse 
that I had left with my brother Gerard to recuper- 
ate, and when I reached there I expected to use 
this horse in getting home. Imagine my disap- 
pointment when I was told that he was dead. His 
rest and good pasture had put fresh blood in his 
veins and vigorous life in his body, and one day, 
as he was sporting in the field and performing va- 
rious gymnastic stunts, he broke a blood vessel, and 
bled to death. 

My brother John, who was then in prison, had 
a horse there also. I pressed that horse into service, 
and started for home late in the fall. I got safely 
through the enemy's lines, and received a warm 
welcome by the folks at home. I was still a pa- 
roled prisoner, and had to refrain from going on 
any of the expeditions that were making Mosby 
and his men famous and a terror to the authorities 
in Washington, although I was strongly tempted to 
do so. The winter was spent pretty much as the 
one I have already described. The life of the Con- 
federacy, for whose existence we had suffered and 
lost so much, was hanging in the balance. Every 
family was mourning the loss of one or more dead 
or maimed; food and clothing could hardly be ob- 



1 86 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

tained at any price. To add to the distressed condi- 
tion, a decree had gone out from Washington that 
all the mills, barns, provender for beast and food 
for man was to be burned, and all cattle and horses 
of every description found, driven off. This decree 
had been carried out with a cruelty that in the light 
of present-day civilization seems incredible. 

The armies, '4ike the locust of Egypt," went out 
from Washington, swept down the rich valley 
of Virginia beyond Staunton and destroyed or car- 
ried off everything except the homes and the old 
men and women and children who occupied them. 
Many of these homes were destroyed by catching 
fire from the burning barns and mills. Every part 
of Virginia within reach of the Northern armies 
suffered the same devastation. 

While I write this, a gentleman sits in my office 
who was in the Northern army and took part in the 
burning. I have just read the foregoing to him 
and asked him if it were not true. ''Yes," said he, 
''every word of it." 

Notwithstanding this condition of things, every- 
where might be heard the cry, "On with the dance, 
let joy be unconfined." Mosby's fame as a daring 
raider had spread far and wide, and his command 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 87 

had increased to over 500. Dashing young cava- 
liers from every part of Virginia, mounted upon 
handsome steeds, came trooping in to join his com- 
mand. They w^ere mostly boys who v^ere too young 
to enter the army at the beginning of hostilities, 
but now, as they became old enough to be ranked as 
soldiers, were anxious to get into the midst of the 
greatest excitement. The hills and valleys of Lou- 
doun and Fauquier, coupled with parts of the ad- 
jacent counties, furnished the field, and John S. 
Mosby of Warrenton, Va., was accepted as their 

leader. 

What might we expect when these 500 handsome 
young men, all well mounted and armed, in whose 
veins flowed the blood of the heroes of the revolu- 
tion? These 500 heroes, coming in every few days, 
some of them with the marks of the battle on their 
bodies and trophies of victories in their hands. 
What do you suppose those Virginia girls were 
going to do about it, put on sackcloth and ashes? 
Well, it was sackcloth they wore, and many of their 
treasures were in ashes, but their spirits were un- 
broken. They had faith in the God of battles, and 
while they could not bear arms, they said, "Let us 
make merry, for these are our brothers and lovers; 



1 88 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

we should cheer them with laughter and song; 
it will make them stronger and braver." And so it 
did, and they fiddled and danced while "Rome 
burned." 

Some time during the latter part of the winter 
I learned that all the prisoners who were paroled 
at a certain time had been exchanged, and were 
ordered to rejoin their various commands. That 
included me. 

As I was no longer under obligation not to take 
up arms against the U. S. Government, I could not 
refrain from taking some part in the upholding of 
what was often called Mosby's Confederacy (mean- 
ing the territory in which he operated), so 1 was 
tempted to steal a fev/ more days before obeying the 
order from Richmond. I went with Mosby on one 
occasion when the Yankees made a raid through 
Loudoun and Fauquier with cavalry and artillery 
seeking to annihilate his command. Mosby had 
all his force out on the occasion, and hung on the 
enemy's front flanks and rear from the time they 
entered Mosby's territory until they left. He did 
not allow them time to eat, sleep or rest. In an en- 
counter near my home a Yankee's horse was killed, 
from which I took the bridle, which was a very 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 89 

fine one. In doing so I got my hands bloody, and 
the blood from the bridle stained my clothes. This 
started the rumor that I was wounded, and it 
reached my home before I got there, but I soon ar- 
rived and explained the mistake. 

Shortly afterward I was in company with a num- 
ber of others en route for Lee's army, the greater 
portion of which was south of Richmond, stretch- 
ing from there to Petersburg. 

Now to go back to my capture at Yellow Tavern. 
After Grant's repulse at Cold Harbor he crossed 
the James river with his army and began the 
siege of Richmond, which lasted all through the 
remainder of the fall and winter of 1864 and 1865 
into April. 

The colonel of my regiment (Flournoy), who I 
stated was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor, was 
the last of the colonels in my brigade to lose his life. 
A gallant young officer, but a little too fond of the 
bottle, not very choice in his language, rather reck- 
less. A few days before he was killed he remarked 
to one of his staff as they stood around the camp- 
fire, "I don't believe the bullet that is to kill me 
has yet been molded." Foolish man; at that very 
time, not far from where he stood, was a soldier in 



I90 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

blue carrying about his waist a leather cartridge- 
box that held the very bullet that was to end his 
life, and not many hours afterward that bullet and 
that colonel met. The latter surrendered without 
a word. 

The winter was a long, dreary one, and the Con- 
federates, being compelled to live in the trenches 
night and day, suffered terribly from cold and hun- 
ger. Wade Hampton took Gen. Stuart's place 
after the latter's death, and during the winter made 
a raid inside Grant's lines and drove out 1500 head 
of fat cattle. It did not take Lee's hungry soldiers 
long to dispose of them and lick their chops for 
more. Grant's great army, stretching from the 
James river to Petersburg, compelled Gen. Lee to 
do the same with his little, half-starved and scant- 
ily-clothed force, and all winter long Grant 
pounded away at Lee's front, trying to break 
through. The most sensational event that occurred 
was the battle of the Crater, as it was called. Grant 
attempted to break Lee's line by digging a great 
tunnel, which had for its object the blowing up of 
Lee's intrenchments, and then in the confusion, 
rushing a large force into the opening. The tunnel 
was finished up to and under Lee's line and 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 191 

loaded with explosives. I believe there was a pre- 
mature explosion, which resulted in the killing of 
more of Grant's soldiers than of Lee's, and then 
the attack that followed resulted in a great 
slaughter of Grant's men and the total failure of the 
project. 



f'.^ 



Chapter X. 

From Petersburg to Appomattox and Home. 

"There hangs a saber, and there a rein, 
With a rusty buckle and a green curb chain ; 
A pair of spurs on the old grey wall, 
And a moldy saddle — well, that is all." 



■*-* ': 



April 2, 1865, Lee was compelled 10 evacuate 
Richmond, abandon his whole battle line, and fall 
back tovv^ard the mountains. He hoped to be able 
to join his forces with those of Gen. Jos. E. John- 
ston, who was advancing northward through North 
Carolina, but his losses were so heavy and his army 
almost starved, the road deep with mud from ex- 
cessive rains, making it impossible for his gaunt, 
lean horses to draw his artillery and wagons. He 
saw further resistance was useless, so on April 9, 
1865, Lee surrendered what was left of his once 
formidable army. The number was a little less 
than 8000 men. I have seen it stated that Lee had 
about 35,000 men,* when, on April 2, he ordered 

♦General Longstreet says the total number surrendered to Grant 
was 28,356. Many of these came in voluntarily and surrendered. 
Lee had with him 1500 prisoners, taken since leaving Petersburg. 
These were the first to be delivered to the Union army. The first 
generous act Grant did after the surrender was to furnish Lee's 
hungry soldiers and horses with food. Grant's army must have 
numbered not far from 150,000. 

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FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 93 

the evacuation of his line of intrenchments. Some 
of his cavalry, being on the outskirts, were not in- 
cluded in the surrender. Besides this, during the 
seven days' retreat, Grant's forces were pressing 
Lee's army on all sides, killing, wounding and cap- 
turing some of his men every hour; this accounts 
for the small number that Gen. Lee personally 
surrendered. The first thing that was done after 
the surrender was an application from Gen. Lee 
to Grant for food for his horses and men, which 
was promptly supplied. Of course, there is much 
that is interesting in connection with the surrender 
that need not be recorded here. Grant's treatment 
of Lee and his soldiers won for him praise all over 
the South. 

But to go back. As I have said, I was on the 
march from home toward the army, and had 
reached a point not far from Charlottesville. There 
were about a dozen of us, all belonging to my regi- 
ment. About noon we saw advancing toward us a 
small body of cavalry. At first we took them for 
the enemy and approached them cautiously, they 
using the same precaution. When we discovered 
that we were fellow-Confeds we passed with a 
salute. One of them called to us and said, ''Boys, 
you may as well go home; Lee has surrendered his 



194 FROM ^ULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

army." We paid no attention to it, but moved on. 
A mile farther we met another squad and asked 
what was the news from the army. We got this 
reply: ''As we passed through Charlottesville we 
came near being mobbed for telling the news from 
the army. You had better go on and find out for 
yourselves." Soon after this we met a colonel lead- 
ing about 40 cavalrymen. By this time we began to 
feel that something was wrong. The colonel halted 
his men and frankly told us that it was a fact that 
Lee had surrendered his army. He stated that 
some of the cavalry had escaped and they were 
making their way toward their homes, and advised 
us to do the same. The colonel and his men moved 
on, and we halted for an hour in the road discussing 
the situation and trying to determine what to do. 
We were not prepared to act upon the evidence 
that we had had regarding the surrender, but were 
willing to admit that it might be true. One fellow 
from Company F, riding a gray horse, rose in his 
stirrups, and lifting his clinched hand high above 
his head, said, ''If Gen. Lee has had to surrender 
his army, there is not a just God in Heaven." 

Finally we decided to cross the mountains into 
the Virginia Valley and tarry in the vicinity of 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 95 

Staunton and await further tidings. I made a bee- 
line for my brother Gerard's. The others scattered 
here and there. After remaining a few days at my 
brother's I started, in company with six or eight 
others, who were from the lower end of the valley, 
principally Clark county, for my home in Loudoun, 
with no definite idea as to what I should do before 
I got there. In fact, the others were in the same 
frame of mind. 

We had heard and read the proclamation that 
all Confederate soldiers who would surrender their 
arms and take the oath of allegiance to the U. S. 
Government (except a certain grade of officers) 
would be allowed to go to their homes and not be 
molested, but we had not yet come to the point of 
surrendering. 

We moved on down the valley pike, noting as we 
went the terrible havoc the war had made, com- 
menting on what we called Jackson's mileposts, 
viz, the skeletons of horses that had fallen by the 
way. They were, however, too thick to be called 
mileposts, but that is what we called them. 

A little below Woodstock, I think it was, we saw 
on a hill, standing in the middle of the road facing 
us, two sentinels on horseback. They were 



196 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Yankee pickets. I think there were eight of us. 
We halted. Someone said, "Well, boys, what are 
we going to do? We can't pass these pickets. 
Shall we surrender?" I guess we stood there for 
an hour. We were all mounted. Finally a young 
fellow from Clark county said, "I'm going up and 
surrender." Another said, "I go with you." And 
the two, taking something in their hands that would 
pass for a flag of truce (white handkerchiefs had 
become obsolete), went forward and were allowed 
to pass. They went to headquarters and surren- 
dered. Then one by one the little band melted away, 
leaving two, and I was one of them. We were not 
ready to surrender. We went back out of sight, and 
made a flank movement to get into the foothills of 
the Massanutten mountains, and by keeping under 
cover of the timber, managed to get within 12 miles 
of my home without being molested. 

As we stood on the edge of the woods we saw the 
Yankee cavalry moving up and down the turnpike 
running from Paris to Middleburg. It looked as 
if there was nothing else to do but surrender. At 
this point my comrade deserted me and went 
forward and surrendered. I watched my oppor- 
tunity, slipping across the pike unobserved, and fol- 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 97 

lowing the Blue Ridge mountains until nearly op- 
posite my home, took a straight line across the fields 
and reached home safely. As I carried my full 
complement of arms I created no little surprise and 
consternation. 

Union soldiers were constantly passing along the 
road which ran close by my home, some of them 
stopping for water or for information, but I could 
not fully make up my mind to surrender. My 
brother Richard of Mosby's command was of the 
same mind. Mosby and all his men had surren- 
dered, and the family pleaded with us to do the 
same, but we were obstinate. This, however, was 
nothing to our credit. When one is whipped he 
should be man enough to acknowledge it and brave 
enough to surrender, unless the conqueror be a 
cannibal. 

Thus ended my career as a soldier. As I look 
back over those four eventful years, after a lapse of 
over 40 years, it all seems a dream. In time of 
peace it is a struggle for 75 per cent, of us to get a 
fair living out of the earth, but the people down 
South managed to live, and were in a degree com- 
fortable and contented, and managed to get food 
enough to preserve their bodies and keep them 



198 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Strong and healthy. Flour was $500 a barrel. I 
paid $125 in Richmond for a hat that I could now 
buy for $1. This common red-striped candy, $25 
per pound. Samuel Rector had gone from Lou- 
doun county to Richmond in 1864 on some business. 
When ready to go home he thought it would be 
nice and the proper thing to do to take the family 
some little remembrances. He went into a confec- 
tionery store and asked to see some candies. The 
jars were taken down and he tasted first one then 
another. Selecting one and asking the price, he was 
told that it was $25 per pound. It was of the long, 
red-striped variety just mentioned, worth in times 
of peace about 10 cents per pound. He had a pound 
of it wrapped up, and handed the proprietor a $50 
Confederate note. Twenty dollars was handed 
back in change. Mr. Rector said, 'T understood 
you to say the price was $25." ''That is true," said 
the affable confectioner, "but you ate $5 worth." 
The joke was well worth $5 to Mr. Rector, and he 
got more pleasure out of it than he did out of the 
pound of candy. 

There were four commodities with w^hich the 
South was plentifully supplied, viz., tobacco, cot- 
ton, money and horses. We raised the two former 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 1 99 

in the territory not harassed by marching armies. 
The third was supplied by printing presses, and the 
horses were captured from our enemy. Of course, 
bridles, saddles, harness and wagons came with the 
horses. 

I have omitted a great many little entertaining 
incidents partly for the sake of brevity and partly 
because they escaped my memory at the time they 
should have been narrated. One that I just now 
recall, and one which the children alwavs used to 
make me tell whenever war stories were called for, 
regardless of how often it had been repeated, I 
will insert here: 

One cold, windy night in the winter of '62 I was 
on picket on the turnpike between Upperville and 
Middleburg. Pickets in the Confederate army 
always stood alone, as two or more would likely be 
absorbed in conversation and forget their duty. 
We were also admonished not to dismount. I was 
a little reckless that night, and dismounting 
stood leaning against my horse to break the bleak 
wind and absorb as much heat from his body as 
possible. He became restless, and I noticed that 
he was looking intently down the pike and throw- 
ing his head up and down as horses will do when 



200 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

excited. I listened, but could hear no sound, and 
told my steed to keep still, but his keen eyes or ears 
saw or heard something that worried him, and he 
kept his ears pointed down in the direction from 
which the enemy would probably come if they 
came at all. I said to myself, "You had better 
mount your horse." But I delayed. I then recalled 
the fact that news had reached the camp that day 
that a body of cavalry had left the vicinity of Wash- 
ington and was moving northeast, and we were ad- 
monished to keep a sharp lookout. Then I con- 
cluded to mount, but before I could do so I realized 
that it was too late. 

I was standing close by one of those old Vir- 
ginia stone fences, about five feet high, and in the 
darkness I saw an object creeping up on the other 
side of the fence, close to it, and only a few feet 
from where I stood. I immediately concluded that 
the object was a man, and that he was from the 
enemy and was bent on capturing or killing the 
picket, so as to surprise our camp. The most ac- 
cessible weapon I had was my sabre. I drew it 
and made a cut at what I conceived to be the man's 
head. As I did so, the object disappeared behind 
the fence, and in its place appeared what proved 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 20I 

to be a black cat's tail, which in a flash followed 
the cat. Although it was quite dark, the little black 
object appearing between me and the sky was 
plainly visible. This incident taught me a lesson 
that I never forgot. I mounted my horse, and never 
was known afterward to dismount when on the 
picket line. I believe this was the greatest fright 
I encountered during my whole four years' war ex- 
perience. 

One more little incident, and a short tribute to 
the remarkable fidelity of the colored people of 
the South to the Southern cause and the families 
of their owners, and I shall have finished. 

There was in my company a soldier by the name 
of Owens — Mason Owens. He was a splendid fel- 
low, quiet in his demeanor, brave in battle, always 
in his place, Vv^hether that place was in the front or 
rear rank, but never liked to do anything that called 
for disguise or deception, such as acting as a spy or 
disguised as a Union soldier, in order to get into 
the enemy's camp, although he recognized that it 
was necessary to have men for work of this kind. 
Owens was very fond of me; in fact, I had no more 
faithful friend in the army. He was continually 
with me, doing me favors, sharing with me any 



202 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

delicacy that came into his possession, keeping close 
by me in battle. Sometimes when the regiment 
would be ordered to dismount for the purpose of 
engaging the foe on foot (and he was No. 4, making 
it his duty to remain mounted and take care of Nos. 
I, 2, and 3 horses) , he would quickly dismount and 
take my place in the ranks and leave me the care of 
the horses (a place few objected to having), and 
many like favors. One afternoon, near night, our 
captain said that he had a requisition for six picked 
men to do some hazardous nightwork within the 
enemy's lines, just the kind of duty that Owens de- 
tested. But fate was against him, and he and five 
others were selected. He sullenly complied, and 
as he rode out of the ranks with his face flushed and 
his head bowed, I heard him say, '^I don't like this." 
Someone said, ''Owens, I'll take your place." He 
turned and gave him a look that must have chilled 
the fellow's blood, and said, ^^Didn't you hear Capt. 
Gibson call me?'* 

I saw the six ride ofif; Owens didn't even say 
good-bye to me. That night one of Lee's noted 
scouts led these men, with others taken from other 
commands, into the enemy's camp, and Owens 
never returned. He was shot, and fell from his 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 203 

horse, dying either from cold or the wound. At 
intervals during the night a citizen living near 
where he fell heard someone calling, but was afraid 
to go out. The next morning he found his dead 
body and buried it. I grieved very much over his 
death, occuring as it did. 

Now I want to say that I shall ever have a tender 
spot in my breast for the colored people, owing to 
what I know of the race, judged from my associa- 
tion with them from early childhood up to and in- 
cluding the years of the Civil War, and, indeed, 
some years after. 

My home in Loudoun county, on the border line 
between the North and South, gave me an unusual 
opportunity of judging how far the negro could be 
trusted in caring for and protecting the homes of 
the men who were in the Southern armies. Scat- 
tered all through the South, and especially in the 
border States, there were white men who were not 
in sympathy with the South, and some of them 
acted as spies and guides for the Northern troops 
as they marched and counter-marched through the 
land. But I never knew of a negro being guilty of 
like conduct. They not only watched over and 
protected the women and children in their homes, 



204 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

but were equally as faithful and careful to protect 
the Southern soldier from capture when he re- 
turned home to see his loved ones. 

No soldier in Loudoun or Fauquier counties 
ever feared that his or his neighbor's servants would 
betray him to the enemy. The negro always said, 
in speaking of the Southern soldiers, ''our soldiers," 
although he well knew that the success of the North 
meant his freedom, while the success of the South 
meant the continuation of slavery. 

Another remarkable thing. No one ever heard 
of a negro slave, or, so far as I know, a free negro 
of the South, offering an insult or an indignity to a 
white woman. They were frequently commis- 
sioned to escort the daughters of the family to 
church or to school, or on any expedition taking 
them from home. Sometimes the distance was long 
and across fields and through lonely woods, but the 
kinky-headed, pigeon-heeled colored man always 
delivered his charge safely, and would have died 
in his footsteps to do it if the occasion required. 
Freedom, education, or both, or something else, 
has developed in the negro a trait that no one ever 
dreamed he possessed until after the close of the 
Civil War. Hence, I have a great respect for the 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 205 

race. Not, however, on account of this lately- 
developed trait, but for those other traits that were 
so much in evidence during the time that tried 
men's souls. 

The following is the name of the several divi- 
sions of the army in which I served, and the names 
of the chief of each division from the captain of 
my company to the commander-in-chief of the 
army: 

Company. — I was in Company A, first com- 
manded by Col. Richard H. Dulaney, who served 
a few months and was promoted. He was suc- 
ceeded by Bruce Gibson of Fauquier county, Vir- 
ginia, who served during the entire war, and was 
once knocked from his horse by the concussion of 
a shell, but sustained no other injuries. Was a 
prisoner from June, 1864, to the end of the war. 

Regiment. — Sixth Virginia Cavalry, commanded 
first by ex-Governor Flournoy, who served one 
3^ear, retired on account of age, was succeeded by 
his son, who was killed at Cold Harbor in June, 
1864, and was succeeded by Richards from Clark 
county, Virginia. The regiment was composed of 
ten companies, and came from the following coun- 



2o6 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ties: Loudoun, Fauquier, Clark and Prince Wil- 
liam. 

Brigade. — First; Robinson, and then Gen. Wm. 
E. Jones, who was killed ; then Gen. Lomax, who, 
I believe, is still living near Warrenton, Fauquier 
county, Virginia. 

Division. — Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Gen. 
Robert E. Lee. He survived the war, and died a 
few months ago. 

Corps. — Commanded by Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, 
who was killed at Yellow Tavern in 1864. He was 
succeeded by Gen. Wade Hampton of South Caro- 
lina, who survived the war and died a few years 
ago. 

Army. — Northern Virginia; commanded first 

by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, who was succeeded 

by Joseph E. Johnston, who was succeeded by Gen. 

Robert E. Lee, who held the position until the close 

of the war. Lee was also made commander-in- 
chief of all the Confederate armies. 



Chapter XI. 

AN AFTER-THOUGHT. 
The Horses. 

"Here lies the steed with his nostril all wide, 
But through it there rolls not the breath of his pride. 
The foam of his gasping lies white on the turf, 
And as cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf." 

I do not mean to intimate by the headline of this 
chapter that I forgot the horses of Lee's army. 
They were on my mind all through the story, but it 
was not until the manuscript was in the hands of 
the printer that the thought came to me that they 
should have a chapter in this book. Ah! the horses 
— the blacks and bays, the roans and grays, the sor- 
rels and chestnuts that pulled Lee's army from the 
Rappahannock to Gettysburg and back, and all the 
other horses that pulled and tugged at the wagons, 
at the batteries of artillery; the horses that carried 
the men, the unstabled horses and the half-fed 
horses. Let my right hand forget its cunning if I 
forget to pay proper tribute to those noble animals 
that suffered so much for their masters. How often 

207 



2o8 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

my mind goes back to that horse that T saw coming 
across the field from the front at Bull Run with 
his sides all dripping with blood. He was a hero, 
for he had been out ''where the fields were shot, 
sown and bladed thick with steel," and was coming 
back to die. Nearly all the bodies of the men were 
buried, and some horses, for sanitary purposes, 
were covered with earth, and a few may now be 
lying in comfortable graves, marked by marble 
shafts. Lee's gray horse, ''Traveler," and Jackson's 
little sorrel, though dead, may yet be seen, not un- 
like they were when they bore their riders along 
the battle front. But the bones of all the other 
horses that perished whitened for a while the hills 
and valleys and the roadsides that stretched from 
Gettysburg to Appomattox, and then when the 
war was over, men gathered them up and ground 
them into merchandise to enrich their cofTers. The 
horses that were alive at the close of the war were, 
for the most part, tenderly cared for, and have long 
ago joined their comrades on the other side. I hope 
they are all grazing together on red-headed clover 
in the green fields of Eden. 

How many horses were in Lee's army from be- 
ginning to end and how many perished has never 




BISHOP ALPHEUS W. WILSON, 
Who trained Rover. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 209 

been told. Some idea can be formed from the fol- 
lowing statement: 

Such an army as Lee's, of 100,000 men, required 
15,000 draft horses, 10,000 for cavalry, and per- 
haps 1500 to 2000 for the officers, their staffs and 
couriers, making a total of 27,000 horses. Perhaps 
a fair estimate of the number of horses employed in 
the army of Northern Virginia, commanded by 
Gen. Lee in person, from 1861 to 1865, would be 
75,000. Of these, 30,000 may have survived the 
war, the remaining 45,000 perished. Add to these, 
say, 120,000 for the Union army, and we have the 
sum total of 195,000 horses that took part in that 
great drama, where the soil of Virginia was the 
stage. 

My first horse was named Rover. She and I 
were colts together on the farm, I nine years her 
senior. I loved her, but there are doubts about 
her love for me. When young, she could run faster, 
jump higher and cut more '^monkey shines" than 
any colt in the neighborhood. More than once she 
landed me on my back in the middle of the road. 
This was before she entered the military service of 
the Confederacy. 

Once my father was on her back crossing a 



2IO FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

Stream. He loosened the rein to let her drink. A 
leaf came floating down the stream as peacefully 
as a summer zephyr. This gave Rover an oppor- 
tunity for playing one of her pet tricks. When the 
leaf came in view she pretended to be terribly 
frightened, made a leap forward, and landed my 
father on his back in the middle of the stream. The 
water furnished so soft a bed that he was unhurt. 
There was a carriage just behind in which Bishop 
Alpheus W. Wilson of the M. E. Church South, 
now living in Baltimore, was riding. I heard him 
tell the story a short time ago, and from the pleas- 
ure with which he related it, I am satisfied that he 
greatly enjoyed the episode at the time, and the re- 
membrance still affords him amusement. The 
good bishop was then a circuit rider on Loudoun 
Circuit, and Rover carried him on her back around 
the circuit. He tried hard to make her a good sad- 
dle-horse, and succeeded. He also tried to improve 
her manners, and while she may have behaved her- 
self when under his eye, it is doubtful whether she 
ever experienced a change of heart. 

I was always suspicious of her, and I had a right 
to be. Sometimes I thought she was opposed to se- 
cession and worked in the interest of the Union. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 211 

Once she delivered me into the hands of the Yan- 
kees, and tried to do it again and again. She 
seemed to have an affinity for United States horses, 
and always wanted to carry me directly in among 
them. It has already been stated that she had a 
jaw that no bit could hold. If she had been a 
woman we might have thought that it was the re- 
sult of talking too much. My, what a weapon of 
destruction Samson could have made of her jaw- 
bone ! I don't know when and where she joined the 
great majority, for we parted company in the spring 
of 1863 on the banks of the Shenandoah river. I 
deserted her to avoid capture. We never met again, 
unless it was on the opposite sides of the battle line, 
and if so, she took very good care to keep on her 
own side; at least on the side that was opposed to 
my side. It grieved me very much to part with 
her, for, with all her faults, I loved her still. 

The cavalryman and his horse got very close to 
each other, not only physically, but heart to heart. 
They ate together, slept together, marched, fought 
and often died together. Frequently a wounded 
horse would be seen bearing his wounded rider 
back from the front. During Lee's march to 
Gettysburg and back the cavalryman was in touch 



212 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

with his horse i8 hours out of 24, and the other six 
hours he was usually close enough to mount at a 
moment's warning. Much of the time, while in 
Pennsylvania, the men slept with their horses tied 
to the wrist. While the rider slept, the horse crop- 
ped the grass around him as far out as his tether 
would allow him, and as close up to his rider's body 
as he could get. Sometimes he would push the 
man's head aside with his nose to get the grass be- 
neath it. I have seen men by the thousands lying 
in this manner in the fields with their horses graz- 
ing about them, yet I never knew a horse to tread 
on one, or in any way injure him. 

On one occasion, near Chambersburg, Pa., the 
men were sleeping with their horses grazing about 
them, when the bugle called us to mount. Some 
time after forming in line I missed one of my mess- 
mates, and called the captain's attention to it. He 
sent me out over the fields in search of him. I 
found him just over the crest of a little hill fast 
asleep, with his horse tied to his wrist. He was ly- 
ing at full length on his back. His horse had 
closely cropped the grass all around him, and as 
far out as he could reach, and so completely had he 
taken every spear of grass about the soldier that 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 213 

when he got up he left a perfect outline of his body 
on the field. 

On another occasion, when en route for Gettys- 
burg, we had halted for a rest at Delaplane, Va. 
Having no food for our horses we were ordered to 
turn them loose in the fields to graze. It was 10 
o'clock at night. We unbridled and unsaddled our 
steeds and let them go free. This was in June, and 
the clover was fine. The hungry animals went 
briskly to work satisfying their hunger. The grind- 
ing of their many jaws sounded like the muffled 
roar of a distant cataract, and this was the music 
that lulled the weary men to sleep as they lay scat- 
tered over the fields, without any fear of being hurt 
or trodden upon. But suppose Kilpatrick had sud- 
denly appeared upon the scene and had thrown a 
few shells into those fields? What would have 
been the result? You can trust a horse so far and 
no farther. A field full of unbridled and fright- 
ened horses might have brought death and destruc- 
tion, and swept Stuart's cavalrymen from the face 
of the earth. But no such fatality occurred. About 
2 o'clock in the morning the bugle sounded ^'saddle 
up," and although it was quite dark, in an incred- 



214 ^^OU BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

ibly short time every man was mounted on his own 
horse and on the march. 

There were times when the cavalry would march 
all night. The men soon learned to sleep on horse- 
back, or you might call it nodding, but some went 
sound asleep sitting upright on their horses. Oc- 
casionally, when a soldier was caught fast asleep, 
his comrade would slip the rein out of his hand and 
lead his horse to a fence corner and hitch it. The 
sudden stopping would awaken him, for he would 
at once begin to fall. Catching himself, he would 
look around in amazement, and if the night were 
dark, he had no little difficulty finding his place in 
the ranks. 

Little episodes similar to this would help to while 
away the weary hours of the night. Then there was 
always some wit or wag, who, at intervals of an 
hour or so, would arouse the whole line with some 
ridiculous outburst. A dark and stormy night al- 
ways called for something extraordinary in this 
line in order to keep the men in good cheer. After, 
say an hour of silence, during which time not a 
sound could be heard save the clatter of the horses' 
feet, the rattle of the soldiers' armor and the 
splatter of the rain, when suddenly someone with 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 215 

the voice of a foghorn would rouse up and yell out, 
^'I want to go h-o-m-e, and I am sick, that's what I 
want." Then some other fellow far up or down the 
line would answer back, ^'I want to see my 
m-o-t-h-e-r, and I am hungry, too, that's what I 
want." This was said in a sobbing tone, as if the 
speaker were about to burst into tears. It would 
set the whole column ofif, and for half an hour or so 
there would be a lively time. 

If we were passing a residence, either humble or 
stately, someone would haltinfrontof itand'^Hello" 
until he saw a window-sash go up and a head poked 
out, with the usual question ^'What is it you want?" 
The reply would be, ''Say, Mister, you had better 
take your chimney in, it's going to rain." Then be- 
fore the angry countryman could get his gun the 
f unmaker would gallop off to his place in the ranks. 
And thus the night was passed. 

No amount of hardship or deprivation seemed to 
dampen the ardor of the cavalier. He always had 
resources, and when in need, they were drawn 
upon; but the horse, like Felix, cared for none of 
these things. They seemed to say, ''Have all the 
fun you want, boys, it doesn't disturb us, but don't 
forget that when we have crossed the river there 



2l6 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

will be something more serious for you to do; we 
are following the feather of Stuart tonight." And 
thus they would trudge on ; it mattered not whether 
storm or calm, they moved in silence, each horse 
following the one in front of him, or yielding to 
the gentle pressure of the rein if the rider had oc- 
casion to leave the ranks. 

Of course, this condition applied only when they 
were not in proximity to the enemy. When the 
bluecoats were about things were different. Every 
man had his horse well in hand; the spur and the 
rein told the horse where he must go ; the men were 
silent; only the officers spoke. 

The horses were fairly well supplied with food 
until after Gettysburg. Then when winter came 
and there was no grass and no growing grain, food 
for Lee's 27,000 horses became a serious problem. 
I have pulled dried grass in December for my horse 
until my fingers bled. At other times, when food 
was more plentiful, the horse was required to share 
his food with his master, particularly in roasting- 
ear time. Then our rations were often the same. 
We cooked ours, while the horse took his green. 
But during the winter months, when we needed 
some kind of beverage to wash down our hardtack. 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 2 17 

the only thing we could get was horse feed, which 
was roasted and boiled. We called it coffee. Tl 
was very good then. We had to rob our horses for 
this, and we all felt mean when we did it. A table- 
spoonful, however, was all that each man had to 
take from his horse for a cup of coffee. The fol- 
lowing winter food got scarcer and scarcer for both 
man and beast, and the horses became thinner and 
thinner. 

I do not know how others felt about the bodies 
of the dead horses that lay scattered over the battle- 
fields, but this sight distressed me almost as much 
as did the bodies of the soldiers. They were so 
faithful and unfaltering. When the bugle sounded, 
any hour of the night, or any hour of the day, re- 
gardless of how short a time they had rested or how 
many miles they had marched, they were always 
ready to respond. They knew all the bugle calls. 
If it were saddle up, or the feed or the water call, 
he was as ready to answer one as the other. And 
he was so noble and so brave in battle. He seemed 
to love the sound of the guns. The cavalryman 
might lie low on the neck of his horse for shelter 
as the missiles of death hissed about him, but the 
horse never flinched, except when struck. 



2l8 FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 

The cavalryman often used his horse for a breast- 
work while he fired over his back, but the horse 
stood like a Casabianca on the burning deck of his 
father's ship. Did you ever read ''Black Beauty?" 
If you have not, read it. Lee had 75,000 "Black 
Beauties" in his army, every one of which, or nearly 
every one, is worthy of a monument. We build 
monuments for our dead soldiers, for those we 
know and for the unknown dead. What would 
you think of a monument some day, somewhere in 
Virginia, in honor of Lee's noble horses? 

I hardly know which branch of the service ought 
to receive the highest honor, the wagon horses, the 
artillery horses or the cavalry horses. I was very 
close to the latter, and knew them better, but the 
wagon and artillery horses had a warm place in my 
heart. To see the wagon horses hitched to heavy, 
loaded wagons, with shells falling around them, 
with no way of escape, was pathetic. To see the 
artillery horses torn to pieces by shells that were 
not intended for them touched a tender cord, and if 
I should be asked to write their names on the roll 
of fame, perhaps it would be in the order in which 
I have named them. 

The cavalry horse, however, was my pet, and I 



FROM BULL RUN TO APPOMATTOX. 219 

should not want to see them any less honored than 
the former, but they all had their places. Farra- 
gut, in the rigging of his flagship giving orders, was 
all right, but a wooden Indian would have done 
about as well if the coal-shoveler below had failed 
to do his duty. What could Gen. Lee have done 
had all his horses balked in unison? Nothing. 
Then all honor to Lee's horses, who pulled and 
hauled and fought and died that this might be a 
very great nation. 

No more appropriate lines could be had for the 
ending of this story than the following touching 
little poem by Francis Alexander Durivage: 

"There hangs a sabre, and there a rein, 
With a rusty buckle and green curb chain; 
A pair of spurs on the old gray wall, 
And a moldy saddle — well, that is all. 

"Come out to the stable — it is not far; 

The moss-grown door is hanging ajar. ' 

Look within ! There's an empty stall, 

Where once stood a charger, and that is all. 

"The good black horse came riderless home. 
Flecked with blood drops as well as foam ; 
See yonder hillock where dead leaves fall ; 
The good black horse dropped dead — that is all. 

"All ? O, God ! it is all I can speak. 
Question me not, I am old and weak; 
His sabre and his saddle hang on the wall, 
And his horse is dead — I have told you all." 



Note. — I said in the beginning that I had not consulted any of the 
Civil War histories for material for this book. After the manuscript 
was in type, I read for the first tirr^ James Longstreet's book on the 
Civil War; also Henderson's "Life of Jackson," and I am indebted 
to these two authors for some facts in regard to the losses in battle 
and the number engaged. To the latter I am indebted for the tragic 
account of the wounding and death of Stonewall Jackson. These 
additions are mostly to be found in foot notes throughout the book. 



HARRISBURG 






.c^A 










MAP SHOWING MrtRCH OF 

UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES 

FROM THE RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER TO GETTYSBURG. 

c^y^^/Ph- - ^ 

PRIMCIPAL BATTLEFIELDS 



)V t6 1S03 



UBRARV OF CONGRESS 







